War Machine
by Saiyanpride248
Summary: (G1) When Galvatron ordered Cyclonus to meet a new arrival, the Decepticon SIC didn't think that it would be a powerful femme with a rather complicated past. Then again, he didn't think he'd end up falling in love with her, either. Cyclonus/OC
1. Prologue

**Hello to anyone that's reading this! I gotta say, for some reason, I'm really nervous about uploading this. Anyway, my first story, so please be nice. Flamers will be ignored, so don't bother. I don't think there's anything else I want to say, so please enjoy! Reviews would be greatly appreciated!**

**Written whilst listening to Cell Transforms, Cell Powers Up, SSJ Transformation and Ginyu Transformation, (All of which are from the DragonBall Z OST by Bruce Falcouner).**

* * *

><p>Standing alone in a barren, Cybertronian wasteland was a tall black femme with red markings. With a click, her black battle mask pulled back, revealing her bone white lip-plates. Her rose red battle visor flicked upwards, showing a pair of even brighter crimson optics. Sprouting from her helm were two horn-like features that were her audio receptors.<p>

She scanned the area, making absolutely sure she was alone. Giggling slightly at the seven fallen mechs spread around her, she sheathed her energon-covered claw blades that spread out from the backs of her hands.

Picking up a grey, offline mech's severed head, she planted a kiss on it's forehead before throwing it unceremoniously to the ground, giving it a kick to send it rolling.

"I had fun playing with you, mechs, but I had better things to do than stick around and chat. Sayonara." And with that, the femme ran off, jumping and flipping over any metallic hills and mountains that were in her path.

_**'Galvatron, sire, I am on my way to the rendezvous point as we speak.'**_

_'If I am correct, you were supposed to head here five minutes ago.'_

_**'Yes, Lord Galvatron, but I am afraid there were a few... Complications, if you know what I mean.'**_

_'Then I will make sure they are dealt with.'_

_**'There is no need, sir. It wasn't a fair fight... For them.'**_

_'May I ask who these mechs were?'_

_**'Three Decepticons, four neutrals, I didn't bother asking for designations.'**_

_'You offlined three of our own faction?'_

_**'They shouldn't have gotten in my way.'**_

_'That's not the point.'_

_**'They tried to assault me. If they thought they had the strength to do **that**, **fighting** me should've been no problem. But, by the time I was finished with the neutrals, they were cowering behind each-other like sparklings.'**_

_'You can tell me all about it when you reach the rendezvous point. And I want to know **every **last detail.'_

_**'I do not doubt that, my Lord. I am nearing your location now.'**_

_'Very well... Commander Twilight.'_

* * *

><p><strong>I know it's short, but I should get a full length chapter up either tonight or tomorrow, if I'm lucky. I kinda just wanted to introduce Twilight in all her glorious bat-slag-craziness. A full description of how she looks will be given in the next chapter, this was just a little something to start off. I should have her bio up on my DeviantArt page, as soon as I can be bothered to draw her (and be happy with how she looks). I'll put a link up the moment I upload it, but it'll probably be a while. Please review! Hope you enjoyed it!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, she's mine (and she's INSANE).**


	2. New Arrival

**Sorry, I said I was going to get this up last night, but I really didn't have time. Anyway, this was written while listening to Hello and My Last Breath by Evanescence, and The Catalyst and When They Come For Me By Linkin Park. Once again, if you would be so kind as to click the little 'review' button, it would be appreciated! Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus had figured out that something important was happening today. There were small hints and signs everywhere you looked around the base, but the biggest hint was Galvatron. The warlord was in a good mood. That in itself was rare, but today he seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood. As far as Cyclonus knew, no mech had been shot - or even hit - today.<p>

Including himself, which was a relief. The quiet, crackling sound of static before hearing his master's voice through a comm. link brought him out of his musings.

_'Cyclonus, __I __want __you __and __Scourge __to __come __with __me __and __meet __our... __new __arrival.'_

And there it was. That was obviously what had put Galvatron in such a positive mood. As far as the tall, purple mech was concerned, a new arrival could only be a good thing, as the Autobots had been upgrading their defences lately. The only part that worried him was just _who _this 'new arrival' was going to be. Cyclonus simply shook it off, meeting up with Scourge and Galvatron at the base's entrance and following the Decepticon leader.

Five minutes after their arrival at the meeting point, Cyclonus noticed that Galvatron had a faraway look in his optics, staring out of a large hole in the ceiling of the abandoned building they were waiting in. A smirk appeared on the warlord's face, and the purple jet realised he must've been talking through a comm. link. They waited another ten minutes, until Scourge cautiously broke the silence.

"My Lord, are you certain this 'new arrival' is-" He was cut off by a loud explosion as the wall of the building they were in was blown off. Cyclonus and Scourge immediately readied their weapons, not sure what to make of the situation.

"Weapons down, mechs." Galvatron ordered, optics fixed on the smoking hole in the wall which soon revealed a slim silhouette.

"Aww, my Lord, do you have to spoil _all_ my fun? I was hoping to get a chance to _play_ with your… little friends here." A female voice echoed.

"Always one for the dramatic entrances, aren't you, Commander Twilight?"

"That I am, sire, that I am."

"Besides, these are my two finest mechs, I can't have you offlining them the moment you arrive."

Once the smoke had finally cleared, it revealed a tall, beautiful black and red femme, who took a couple of steps closer before bowing in front of Galvatron.

"Lord Galvatron, sire, it is a pleasure to be in your presence once again."

"Trust me, Commander, the pleasure is all mine." She giggled slightly before turning to Cyclonus and Scourge.

"It is a pleasure to meet you two as well." She said, bowing slightly. They simply nodded in return, not having a clue what to say. Galvatron laughed.

"Look at that! You've only been here a few moments and you've already rendered my two strongest mechs speechless!" He continued to laugh as Twilight stood there in silence, arms folded across her chest-plates, the ghost of a smirk flitting across her lip-plating.

"Cyclonus, Scourge, I want you to meet Twilight, Commander of the undercover unit in Iacon. Twilight, this is my second in command, Cyclonus, and this is Scourge, my tracker." She nodded to them in acknowledgement, giggling slightly when they managed to nod meekly in response. Galvatron held back another fit of laughter.

"Well, I think it's time we head back to base." Twilight nodded.

"I have the co-ordinates, sire, I'll meet you there." And with that, she jumped out of the hole in the ceiling, running at full speed towards the base.

"Is there any reason she is not flying with us, my Lord?" Scourge asked, confused.

"She's an unusual one, Twilight. A grave accident when she was younger damaged her thrusters in such a way that they were irreparable, but she easily makes up for her lack of flight with her ability to traverse land with such skill. I've never seen a femme or mech jump higher. She _can_ fly, but only for certain amounts of time, and it takes a great deal of energy for her to do so."

Cyclonus shook his head in amazement.

_'An unusual one indeed...' _He'd never heard of a femme like this one before. And she was beautiful, too. Transforming and following Scourge and his leader back to base, he couldn't stop the one thought that popped into his processor.

_'One __femme __in __a __base _**_full _**_of __mechs... __This _**_can't _**_end __well.'_

* * *

><p>They arrived at the base to see that Twilight had beaten them there, waiting in that same stoic stance, arms folded.<p>

"Twilight, I trust you realise that your appearance will have quite a reaction on the mechs at base." She nodded, but a dangerous smirk made itself known on her ice white face-plates.

"Unless they want to end up like the mechs that I encountered on my way here, they'll keep their servos to themselves." Galvatron merely chuckled, and lead the way into the base.

"You'll be given a full tour in the morning, but for now, I believe a little... welcoming party is due."

"Galvatron, sire, there really is no need."

"Nonsense, Commander. You're one of the finest bots I have, and you deserve a proper welcoming. Not to mention, you're the only femme that follows the Decepticon cause."

"About that 'Commander' situation..."

"Yes?"

"All members of my team are offline, the incident happened during a failed raid last year."

"Ah, well, my apologies."

"I didn't lead the raid, my so called lieutenant ordered it without my permission. Insubordination cannot be tolerated, they all deserved what they got."

"So your one-hundred percent success streak is still intact, eh?" The purple warlord chuckled. She made no comment, and they made their way to the rec room, that had a huge empty space in the centre.

"I trust you know what this is for?" Galvatron asked, turning to Twilight.

"It isn't for dancing, I can tell you that much." She replied with that same smirk, hands on her hips.

* * *

><p>Her introduction to the other mechs was eventful, to say the least. One shot from Galvatron's cannon had been enough to make the wolf-whistles stop in the end. However, to Cyclonus' amazement, the femme simply shook it all off with that same quiet giggle, the smirk on her face already becoming familiar. The 'party' was going quite well, considering Twilight's arrival had caused quite a commotion at first.<p>

The head table was made up of Cyclonus, Twilight, Galvatron, Soundwave and Scourge. Anyone who didn't know what the large space in the centre of the room was used for had just found out. That included Cyclonus. It was an unusual sport he'd never heard of before, that was apparently popular in Twilight's home city. It was similar to what the humans call 'wrestling'.

As he watched two Decepticons finish their fight in the 'ring', a murmur from where the black and red femme sat next to him brought Cyclonus out of his thoughts.

"Pathetic."

"Come again?"

"Ah, my apologies, I was thinking out loud again wasn't I?"

"Uhh... Yeah..." he nodded slightly. She smiled sheepishly before turning to Galvatron.

"Sire, is it time now?" With a broad smile, he nodded. Her smirk returned again, and she abruptly stood and made her way to the centre of the 'ring'. Folding her arms, she stood in that same pose, and a battle visor not unlike Soundwave's flicked down. Her optics were still visible through it, though, unlike the communication officer's, and Cyclonus saw them carefully filter through the crowd of mechs. She let out a short laugh.

"No-one? Oh, that _is_ a shame."

All of a sudden, her optics were fixed on the purple jet she had been sitting next to.

**_'Watch _****_how _****_pathetic _****_they _****_all _****_are.' _**Her voice through a comm. link startled him. He nodded slightly in response. That cocky - yet dangerous - giggle, sounded through the link. Clearing her throat, she returned her attention to the other mechs. Cyclonus leaned forward, confused as to what she was doing. He missed the smirk that Galvatron sent his way, optics focused on the tall femme's face-plates.

* * *

><p>The other Decepticons were cautious. Not of the femme, but of her importance. Galvatron had made it clear that no-one was to touch her, he was very... <em>protective<em>. Only when she cleared her throat and spoke did all their caution and worry float away.

"Whoever can defeat me can buy me a few cubes of high grade when this is over." Immediately, they were all taking up her challenge.

**_'Told _****_you, _****_pathetic.'_** Her voice, full of amusement, rippled through her comm. link with Cyclonus.

_'Do __not __take __offence, __Commander, __but __have __you __gone __mad?'_ He replied. She laughed through the link. Not that quiet giggle, a louder, longer laugh.

**_'Is _****_that _****_concern _****_I _****_hear, _****_Cyclonus? _****_I'll _****_be _****_just _****_fine, _****_don't _****_you _****_worry.'_** She cut the link before he could protest. He watched as she pointed to Blitzwing.

"Alright then, you can go first." He smirked, entering the ring.

Cyclonus was reluctant to take his eyes off of the femme, but he did so and turned to Galvatron.

"Sir, are you sure she should be doing this?" Galvatron laughed.

"Fallen for her already, Cyclonus?"

"No sir! It's not that, it's just-"

"I'm joking, Cyclonus, cool your circuits. Why are you so worried?"

"... She... She's a femme, it's different." Galvatron chuckled.

"I assure you, Cyclonus, her gender is no reason to treat her differently. Just watch." He nodded, turning back to the femme. She was backing up slowly, to the edge of the ring. Blitzwing stayed where he was, and Galvatron started the countdown.

Cyclonus watched in anticipation as the triple changer made his way towards the tall femme. The fight had begun.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Slight change of plan, a full description of Twilight will be given in Chapter 3, I promise!<strong>**

********Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.********


	3. Laughing Stock

**I am SO sorry that this took so long! I couldn't upload it during the October holidays, and I just didn't find the time this week, other than that, I really don't have any excuses. Anyway, this was written while listening to Toy Soldiers by Eminem, Hero by Skillet, Monster by Paramore and Crawling by Linkin Park. If you could review, it would mean a lot to me! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Blitzwing wasn't hesitant with his attack, grabbing Twilight's ankle and throwing her across the makeshift ring. But what Galvatron had said earlier about her 'gymnastic' skills proved true. It was an amazing sight to see as she flipped off from the wall, completely unfazed, and yet Cyclonus was still uneasy, mostly because the femme, despite her height, looked so fragile and dainty next to Blitzwing.<p>

Also, since when did he care about how someone else felt - other than the mighty Galvatron? Since when did he want to get to know more about anyone? He was happy just knowing if they were on his side or not, but no, this femme had gained his undivided attention. He watched as Blitzwing continued his attacks, growing more frustrated as she kept dodging swiftly.

Cyclonus couldn't help but notice what a beauty she was, too. She was just a little taller than Galvatron, but still shorter than himself. Black armour covered all of her body except for her face-plates, which were a bright white.

Crimson red optics were still covered by that translucent visor, and audio receptors in the shape of horns drooped down and covered the sides of her head. Red zigzag markings traveled up her arms, crossing over her stomach-plating and making their way down her legs. Her audios sported the same markings.

All of a sudden, a black battle mask covered her lip-plates, and her voice rang out from beneath it, her cold tone sending shivers down Cyclonus' spine.

"Enough sparkling's play, mech. Either fight like a Decepticon or get rid of that insignia."

"I could say the same to you, femme! You haven't even made a move yet!" Blitzwing retorted.

"So you want me to make a move, alright then." That giggle resounded around the whole of the rec room, the other 'Cons entirely silent as they watched in awe.

Twilight let herself get caught by Blitzwing again, not even flinching as he slammed her body against the ground, making a fairly large dent in the floor. The purple mech let go of her, only to bring his foot down across her stomach plates. Cyclonus winced, staring wide-eyed at Galvatron as the tyrant chuckled.

"May I ask what joke I missed, sire?"

"The joke, Cyclonus, is Blitzwing."

"Excuse me, sir?"

"When you battle Twilight, you must always have in your processor that appearances are never what they seem. Don't take your optics off her, Cyclonus, she's about to finish this." Frowning despite his good mood, Galvatron warned Twilight through a comm. link.

_'Twilight, you are not to offline any mech you fight against during your stay at base, do I make myself clear?'_

**_'Perfectly, sire, although I have to ask, the removal of limbs is still allowed, correct?'_**

_'Why of course, limb removal is your speciality, after all.'_

**_'Permission to do so is appreciated, Lord Galvatron. Now, if you don't mind, I have an aft-hole to partially dismember.'_**

The laugh he let out was through his vocaliser, not the comm. link, and Cyclonus knew that that dangerous - yet strangely beautiful - smirk was dying to be shown from under Twilight's mask. Whatever conversation the 'Con leader and the new arrival were having was annoying Blitzwing greatly. He took his foot off of her, picking her up by her neck.

"Well, femme, not so cocky now are ya? Don't worry, we'll get Hook to sort ya out, and then you and I are gonna have a _real_ good time down at the club." The way the triple changer worded that sentence disturbed Cyclonus immensely. But, to his surprise, Twilight once again shook off his comment with that same, haunting giggle. Removing her battle mask, she spoke, voice cold as ice yet at the same time, as dangerously fiery as a smelting pool,

"Wrong move, mech."

And then it happened. Before anyone, let alone Blitzwing, could react, Twilight finally made her move. Punching him with a strength no mech thought capable of a femme, she left a large dent in his shoulder-plating. But she wasn't finished. Once again, quicker than anyone could react, three claw blades ejected from the back of her hand, slicing straight through Blitzwing's circuitry.

Twisting her wrist so her hand was facing palm up, she drove it upwards, tearing the triple changer's arm clean off. Cyclonus was too shocked to gasp. Twice he tried to force some sort of sound out of his vocaliser, but there was nothing. The third time however, he was successful.

"Primus... That's... This is... This is unreal..."

"What did I tell you, Cyclonus, never judge a bot by their gender or appearance. If you don't want to end up like Blitzwing, that is."

The purple jet simply stared as Twilight pushed off of Blitzwing's chest plates, sheathing her claw blades that were now covered with the triple changer's energon. Growling in pain, Blitzwing picked up his severed arm and stalked off.

"Any time you're willing for a rematch, I'd happily oblige." She called mockingly after him. Turning to the crowd of mechs, she giggled,

"Anyone else? My offer still stands."

There was a unanimous shake of heads, and she laughed.

"What about you, sire, up for a spar, like the good old days?" She asked Galvatron.

"I believe I've had too much energon to be focused properly, perhaps another time, Commander." She giggled once more, that sound was strangely enchanting.

"Perhaps."

She made her way over to the head table and sat back in her seat. Picking up her half-full cube of energon, she propped her feet up on the bar under the table, placing an arm behind her head before leaning back and taking a swig, not noticing the purple jet beside her staring at her intently.

Only when Galvatron looked their way and let out a knowing chuckle, did she look up.

"Hm?" She hummed, flicking up her battle visor she'd forgotten to remove.

"Can I help you with something, Cyclonus?"

"Ah, forgive me, it's nothing, really." She smiled, it was an awkward expression, caught halfway between her usual smirk and a grin.

That was the first time he'd spoken to her properly, no comm. links, no stuttering.

"Go on, spill it. I don't mind."

_'Alright, but can we continue this in a comm. link? I'd rather not be the laughing stock again today.'_ And there it was again, that childish giggle. It sounded like a child who'd just been caught with their hands in the energon treat jar, but they didn't really give a frag that they'd been caught.

_**'No problem, now shoot.'**_

_'I... Forgive me if you take offense, but I'm just amazed at how... Willingly you... Offered yourself to them all.'_ A loud laugh burst through the comm.

_**'It's just one of my techniques. Mechs usually get confused when their opponent is also their 'prize'. Take Blitzwing for example, if you will. He didn't care how much damage he did, knowing it could be repaired, as long as he got to take me out afterwards.'**_

_**'What he forgot, was that I could fight back. Other mechs make the mistake of going easy on me, because I'm a femme or because they don't want to damage their 'prize'. But then they're in deep slag when I drop the act.'**_

_'But is it really worth... Objectifying yourself?'_

Another laugh, so much for _not_ being the laughing stock.

**_'I've never lost, Cyclonus. If that means having to 'objectify' myself to one mech that isn't going to online the next morning, then it's worth it.'_** He didn't reply, and she turned her optics on Galvatron. Pretty much every mech was wasted now, apart from Cyclonus, Soundwave and herself. Shaking her head with a chuckle, she turned to some of the Decepticons that had started dancing in the makeshift ring.

_**'Can you dance, Cyclonus?'**_ She asked, looking blankly at the ceiling.

_'Can I- What? What kind of question is that?'_

**_'Quite a simple one, can you dance?'_** She turned to him, giving him a grin.

Taking another sip from her cube, she set it down and twisted fully in her chair, giving him her full attention.

"Well, can you?" She spoke normally, terminating the comm. link.

"I-I've never tried, why would I have a reason to?"

"I don't know. I can't dance, by the way. Not to save my life. It's quite funny, actually." Turning her attention back to the dull, purple ceiling, she sighed, shutting off her optics.

"I know what you're thinking, 'what's the point in this conversation', right?"

"Not at all." He replied with a chuckle. She snapped her head round to look at him, confused. He was smiling at her, and she simply smirked back. Looking back up to the dark ceiling, she smiled to herself, offlining her optics once more. Something told her she was going to enjoy her stay here.

* * *

><p><strong>Hooray for my ability to write crappy chapter endings! Ugh, I wasn't sure about this, but I couldn't think of anything else, so enjoy some OOC Cyclonus =. Sorry that the fight scene was kinda crappy, I didn't want to focus on it too much. There will be better ones though. Thank you to anyone who's reading this! I promise it will get better, I just need some sort of inspiration to get the ball rolling.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	4. Drax

**Woohoo, another update! So glad I found time to put this up, It's been bugging me all day, I've been dying to do it! Anyway, written whilst listening to Crashed by Daughtry, Arrival of Tears by Ayane, and Transformers EVO by JAM Project. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The 'party' carried on until the earliest hours of the next morning, and all the mechs stumbled off to their quarters, their processors fuzzy from all the high grade, not realising that they'd have to get up and start work soon anyway. Twilight, however, had a problem.<p>

Wandering aimlessly around the base, she realised that Galvatron had never told her where her quarters were. Sighing, she was about to make her way back to the rec room, when a navy coloured mech stood in her way.

"Ah, hello Soundwave. Can I help you, old friend?"

"Twilight's quarters; located in this direction. Follow."

"Sure thing." Twilight giggled, she didn't question how he knew she was lost.

They soon arrived in a corridor where there were only four doors.

"This room; yours. Cyclonus; next door. Soundwave; opposite. Galvatron; in the remaining room." She nodded in thanks, waving goodnight and entering her quarters using the code he had given her.

Inside Twilight's room was simple, a berth, a desk and chair and a small cupboard was all that was in it. It was all that she needed, but for some reason, she felt that something was missing. Ignoring the thought, she lay down on the berth, intent on getting a quick recharge before her first day of work at her new 'home'.

The moment she got comfortable, however, loud sirens were blaring through not only her comm. link systems, but the speakers that were situated all over base as well. She frowned.

_'Would Autobots really be foolish enough to attack a base this big head on?'_ Letting her claw blades slide out, she made her way to the door. Hearing footsteps nearing her quarters, she pressed herself against the wall, getting ready to cut down the mech on the other side.

Her frown became one of confusion when the Autobot intruder knocked instead of just barging in. Using her scanners to read the energy signature, she held in a gasp when she realised just how _powerful_ her opponent was. She let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding in the form of a long sigh of relief when she heard Cyclonus' voice from the other side of the door.

"Twilight? Are you awake?" She retracted her claw blades and opened the door.

"Ah, morning. Sorry if Galvatron's wake up call annoyed you. You're going to have to get used to that." He apologised.

"_That's_ how he wakes his crew up?"

"Not every morning, just when he feels like it." He said with a chuckle.

"I thought we were under attack!" He chuckled again as she sighed irritably and slammed the door of her quarters shut behind her.

"Galvatron ordered me to give you a tour of the base, if you'll follow me." She nodded, following the purple jet.

As she walked behind him, Twilight quickly silenced her shock as it dawned on her. _Cyclonus_ was the mech she had scanned earlier.

_'How the frag did he become so powerful? His energy signature's like nothing I've ever seen before!'_ It was only then that she noticed she had stopped walking. Cyclonus had noticed as well, turning around from where he stood a few steps in front of her.

"Is there a problem, Twilight?" She suddenly snapped out of her trance, shaking her head.

"No, nothing. Sorry." She ran a hand over her head, sighing. He frowned. Something was wrong, but what? Had he done something to offend her? She always seemed so... Distant around him. They soon made their way to the control room, and Cyclonus showed the femme to a control panel in the left corner.

"You'll be working here when you're not on missions, if that's alright."

"Yeah, this should be fine. Thank you, Cyclonus."

"It was nothing. Soundwave's in the communications centre next door if you need anything." He said, walking out of the control room. Twilight sat in the chair that was placed at her panel, and started to watch the data stream. Five minutes into her new job, she was already bored with the same numbers scrolling across the screen in the same pattern.

She stretched for a moment, looking around the room, and saw one of Scourge's Sweeps staring at her.

_'Oh, for Primus' sake.'_ She vented, turning round to continue watching the data feed. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps coming in her direction.

_'If this is that fragging Sweep I swear to Primus I'll tear him limb from slagging limb.'_

Only when she strained her audio receptors a little more did she hear that there were actually two mechs walking towards her.  
>However, to her relief, they walked right past her. As they did, though, one of them stopped, did a double take and then gasped.<p>

"Hey, hey bro, wait up! Come look at this!" Twilight frowned, not completely recognising the voice. Only when the footsteps - now running - came towards her again did she stand and turn around. To her surprise, there was no-one there.

Not until she looked _down_, that is.

"Hey, Twilight!"

"Frenzy? Rumble?"

"Yeah, it's us!" The black and red femme didn't make an attempt to hide her shock.

"You guys were like, _sparklings_ the last time I saw you!" She giggled, reaching down to hug them. She laughed when they struggled to get out of her grip.

"C'mon Twilight, we're soldiers now!"

"Let go ya weirdo!"

"I'm only messing with you both, cool your circuits." She let go of them, giggling again as they brushed themselves down and stuck out their glossas in mock disgust. She ruffled their non-existent hair before turning back to the monitor. Twilight raised an optic ridge when they didn't leave.

"Can I help you two _soldiers_ with something?"

"We were just wonderin' if ya've got a sparkmate yet." She turned to them, confused. Those two always asked the weirdest of questions, and were never too subtle about it either.

"Why would I?"

"Eh, don't ask us, we dunno." Frenzy moved to sit upon the control panel, being careful not to hit any buttons.

"So, do ya?"

She answered carefully, making sure to keep a straight face so they didn't think she was trying to hide something from them.

"No, what about you two sparkbreakers?" Rumble laughed.

"Us? No way. Soundwave wouldn't let us even if we did find someone."

"Good, you're way too young for that sorta stuff."

Twilight frowned slightly as they chuckled to themselves before hopping off of the controls and waving goodbye.

"Where are you two running off to?"

"Oh, we have some... Business to attend to." Rumble stated as they began to walk off. Frenzy turned around.

"Don't worry 'bout it, it's nothin' important." She raised an optic ridge sceptically.

"Alright then, I'll see you later." Sighing, she turned back to the boring data on the screen. She nearly jumped a mile when she heard Galvatron's voice through her comm. link.

_'Twilight! I need you to come to the throne room, now! Get one of the Sweeps to take over your shift!'_

**_'Yes sire, on my way.'_** Sighing, she walked over to the Sweep that had been staring at her.

"Hey beautiful, you need some help?" He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I suggest you keep your hands - and your optics - to yourself, unless you want to wake up in complete darkness with your optics gouged out and your hands sliced off." To make a point, she held her arm out, letting her claw blades slide out so they just poked at the Sweep's neck cables.

"Of course ma'am, I'm very sorry, so very sor-"

"I don't need to hear your apologies, I just need you to watch that monitor until I return." He nodded, frantically running over to said screen, only to trip and scramble the rest of the way on his hands and knees. Twilight let out her usual haunting giggle. Retracting her claw blades, she made her way to the control room.

As she entered, Twilight noticed that Galvatron was busy talking to Soundwave, and decided it would be the perfect moment to approach Scourge. Walking up to the winged mech who stood next to Cyclonus, she folded her arms across her chest plates, crimson optics burning into Scourge's own with a frightening intensity.

"Scourge, I strongly recommend you control your fragging Sweeps, unless you want me to decapitate them all." She scowled. He backed away slightly, worried that she was going to decapitate_him_ instead. Cyclonus didn't have to be a genius at reading expressions to guess what one of the Sweeps must have tried. Neither did Scourge, fortunately.

"Of course, I'm very sorry, I'll speak to them, I do apologise."

"I don't want an apology, I'm merely saying that I'd rather not have to dismember some of Galvatron's finest huntsmen." He nodded, noticing that her personality had completely changed. She seemed more laid-back now, as if the incident had never happened. She walked off to the other side of the room as Galvatron beckoned her.

"Primus, it's like that femme has a personality switch! One minute she's a stone-cold killer, the next she's as carefree as a sparkling!" Cyclonus chuckled.

"Then I suggest, Scourge, that you watch what you're saying." Scourge laughed, then quickly stopped himself, so as not to catch the attention of his leader. The three 'Cons on the other side of the room walked up to the two of them.

Just at that minute, the Sweeps came running in. One of them caught sight of Twilight and trembled slightly, moving so he was behind the others. Scourge and Cyclonus no longer had to guess which one had tried something. She smirked, giving the scared mech a small wave. That all too familiar giggle that sounded like something from a horror movie made it's way out of her vocaliser.

"Cyclonus, I want you, Scourge, the Sweeps and Twilight to go and investigate this abandoned energon mine! I want you to return here in no less than three days time!" The aforementioned Decepticon soldiers gave a sharp nod and a small bow before taking off in the direction of the planet that was on the map on the throne room's screen.

* * *

><p>It was located on a faraway planet called Drax, where at some point during the war, refugees found a way to convert the locals' fuels into energon. But for some reason, the refugees suddenly disappeared, leaving all the energon they had created untouched. The team of Decepticons landed on the planet, Twilight becoming a little light-headed from all the flying. Her steps were slightly shaky, but she continued surveying the area.<p>

"Twilight, maybe you should rest for a while." Cyclonus suggested.

"I'll be fine, Cyclonus." She muttered, walking over to the entrance to the mines. Using her scanners once more, she spoke up again.

"This is the only way in and out, but the tunnels branch off in three directions further down. If we split off in pairs, and after three hours, we regroup here, does that sound good?" Everyone nodded.

"Alright then," She giggled, "Who's going down first?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hooray for my crappy cliffhanger-yet-not-a-cliffhanger! Might be able to get chapter five up in a bit, but I'm not sure. Hope you enjoyed!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	5. Unwelcome

**Sorry this took so long, I've been really busy with schoolwork and I was away last weekend. Also, I had major writer's block for the past couple of weeks, so yeah... Written whilst listening to Love and Loss, Invincible, To Glory and Dragon Rider, all of which are by Two Steps From Hell. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><em>"Alright <em>_then, __who's __going __down __first?"_

* * *

><p>The femme giggled when the mechs looked around, a little reluctant.<p>

"Guess I will then!" She giggled again, that enchanting sound echoing throughout the tunnels as she ran in, despite the mechs' protests.

"Twilight, are you okay?"

"Relax, scaredy-cats, there's nothing frightening down here, apart from me. So I suggest you get _your_ afts down here, and soon." She heard multiple pairs of footsteps coming her way, and was soon met with the five mechs she had traveled with.

Looking around, Twilight flipped down her visor, turning the brightness level up so she could see better in the dark caves.

"I already don't like this place." One of the Sweeps muttered.

"Me neither, gives me the creeps." Another replied.

"Scared, Sweeps?" The black and red femme taunted. They didn't reply, not that she gave them time to.

"Hold on, what was that?" She asked, looking around, scanners on high alert. Scourge stared at her, confused.

"What was what?"

"That sound! What was it?" The Sweep she had threatened earlier spoke up.

"What sound?"

"Don't tell me you guys didn't hear that." Cyclonus shook his head.

"I'm afraid I didn't. Maybe you're hearing things, the flight here may have taken its toll on your systems."

"I _said_ I'm _fine_, Cyclonus. And I know I heard _something_." All of a sudden, she winced as a loud roaring sound filled her audios.

"Ah! Slag, there it is again! Tell me you heard it this time!" There was a unanimous shake of heads. The mechs all looked at each-other nervously, not sure what to say. Cyclonus was the one that stepped forward.

"Are you _sure_ you don't need to rest, Twilight?" She sighed, it was obvious they weren't going to believe her.

"Maybe you're right..." All of a sudden, the six of them flinched as a deafening roaring noise pierced their audio receptors.

"You _cannot_ tell me you _didn't_ hear that!"

"_That_ I heard." Cyclonus nodded. The Sweeps looked around cautiously. Scourge walked to the opening of one of the three tunnels they were faced with.

"But what's making that noise?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what we all want to know, genius." Twilight muttered irritably. Suddenly, her scanners picked up a life-form moving quite quickly towards them.

"Weapons at the ready mechs, we've got company!" She stated, claw blades unsheathing audibly.

As she crouched into a defensive stance, the glow of her visor was suddenly reflected on the head of a small, worm-like creature that was looking up at her in curiosity. At least, she guessed it was looking at her, because from what Twilight could see, the creature didn't have any eyes.

It was dark blue in colour and if it were to somehow balance itself on the tip of its tail or its head, she guessed it would come up to her waist.

"Panic over, it's just a small fry." She stated with a sigh of relief.

"None of us were panicking anyway." Scourge replied defensively. She scoffed.

"Oh _please_, your Sweeps were just about ready to soil themselves!" She tuned out said Sweeps' protests, walking away from the worm and back to the group of mechs.

"Um... Twilight? That thing... It's following you." Cyclonus pointed out, watching as the femme turned to see that the worm was right behind her.

"Oh joy... I-" Quicker than anyone could react, the worm pounced on Twilight, sinking sharp fangs into her shoulder. She growled, ripping it off of her, and driving her claw blades through it's skull before it could try to attack again.

"Primus... What in the Pit was that thing?" Scourge muttered.

"I don't know, but if a baby's that aggressive, I don't want to meet its parents." Twilight stated. Her small attempt to lighten things up was wasted as Cyclonus walked over to her, gently inspecting her injured shoulder.

"It's bitten right through your circuitry..." He stated, astounded. She wriggled out of the purple jet's grasp.

"That needs to be repaired, Twilight." He protested.

"It can wait."

"Twilight-"

"I _said_ it can wait!" Cyclonus sighed, not bothering to reply. He watched as the light of her visor dimmed slightly.

"Those things are called Draxians, I just looked them up on the database." She stated, keeping her voice down, in case any more of the creatures were lurking in the darkness.

No sooner had she said that than everyone was struggling to stay on their feet as the ground trembled beneath them and that deafening roar was heard again.

"I think we're going to meet the parents whether you like it or not, Twilight." Scourge muttered, taking to the air with the Sweeps. Cyclonus joined them, and the five mechs watched as Twilight stood stone still in front of the three tunnels.

"Twilight, what are you doing? Get up here, now!"

"Hang on a second, Cyclonus. Something's not right here." Twilight watched in both horror and awe as the adult made its appearance.

"Holy slag!" A giant Draxian - at least forty times bigger than the first - broke through the cave floor, letting out an audio piercing roar.

"Twilight, what are you waiting for? Get away from it, hurry!"

The Draxian turned silent, its head turned in the direction of the flying mechs. As Twilight was scanning the database frantically, it hit her.

"Get out of the air, now! It sees by using heat sensors, your thrusters are making you generate more heat! It's coming for _you_!"

"What are you-" Before Scourge could finish his sentence, the Draxian slammed its tail into him. He managed to steady himself, but not before the creature came at him again.

One of the Sweeps shot at it, the others following soon after. Twilight dug her claw blades into the Draxian's flesh, sliding her hand down and leaving three huge gashes down its side. As she stabbed its back with her other set of blades, it wrapped its tail around her arm, flinging her across the cave. She righted her course and flipped off the wall with a growl of annoyance.

"Fall back, now!" She heard Cyclonus' order, and began to run away, despite her Decepticon instincts telling her to stand and fight. Only when she was nearing the entrance to the mine did Twilight notice that Cyclonus wasn't hadn't retreated with them.

"Stay here, I'm going back in."

"Are you crazy?" Scourge yelled after her.

"Why yes, yes I am. Stay here, Scourge, that's an order!" And with that, she disappeared back into the mine. The atmosphere in there was even eerier now that Twilight knew what inhabited the so-called 'abandoned' caves. She could hear the battle raging on inside of the tunnels before she could see it. It wasn't long until the Draxian and Cyclonus came into view, and she unsheathed her claw blades once again.

Whilst dodging the creature's attacks, the two Decepticons started arguing.

"Twilight, I said fall back!"

"You really don't expect me to leave you here alone with this thing, do you?"

"That was a direct order, Twilight!"

"Does it look like I care?"

"I am the second in command, you will follow my orders!" She scowled.

"Pulling out the rank card on me, are you?"

"Considering how strongly you feel about insubordination, I'm surprised you're being such a hypocrite." She growled, preparing another verbal assault, only to get the Draxian's tail slammed into her midsection. Knocked out of the air, and - because of her 'disability' - unable to regain altitude, Twilight's optics widened ever-so-slightly in fear as she recognised the feeling of free-fall.

* * *

><p><em>She'd fallen out of the air like this before. Only a child, but just like now, she was unwanted, unwelcome. Pushed off a cliff, her disability making it impossible to stop her fall, she hit the ground, left to die. Whilst her own parents watched from above, shadows of death. Shadows filled with a sadistic glee. The unwanted nuisance in their life was finally gone.<em>

_Left to die, unwanted, unwelcome, _**_alone_**_._

* * *

><p>Strong arms held her around her waist, catching Twilight and halting her fall. She twisted her neck so she could look up at her savior. Cyclonus' face was inches from hers, a look she'd never seen on a Decepticon's face before had completely taken over his face-plates. Was that... Concern?<p>

"Twilight? Can you hear me?" The purple jet was shaking her, trying to get a response. She snapped out of her daze.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine... I'm okay."

"No you're not, we need to get you out of here."

"You should've f-followed in the first place." She giggled. He didn't say anything, too focused on his own thoughts.

_'She came back in here to look for _**_me_**_?'_

Speeding towards the cave entrance with a protesting Twilight in his arms, Cyclonus scowled. The Draxian was right behind them, refusing to give up the chase. As the faint light the entrance offered came into sight, the worm-like predator grabbed Cyclonus' leg in its jaws, and the purple jet had no choice but to let go of Twilight. She hit the ground with a rather loud thud, just outside the entrance to the old mines.

The Decepticon watched as Scourge and the Sweeps immediately drew their weapons and began trying to bring down the monster that held Cyclonus in its jaws. The Draxian whipped its tail round, intent on delivering a fatal blow to the four mechs, but a shot from Scourge's gun made it flinch and its tail slammed into the ground, dangerously close to Twilight's seemingly unconscious body.

Cyclonus let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when the creature's tail lifted again, showing the black and red femme, unharmed. However, it struck again, this time aiming for the helpless soldier. Quick as a flash, Twilight got up and flipped out of the way, slicing off the tip of the Draxian's tail with her blades.

The behemoth recoiled, accidentally hitting the roof of the cave entrance. Rocks fell down in huge, devastating piles, completely blocking Cyclonus' only escape route. He let out a pained sigh. He hissed as the Draxian's grip on his leg tightened, and it began to slither away, no doubt to find a safer place to devour its prey. Cyclonus swore he'd think of a way to escape, but at the moment, he was in too much pain to come up with a plan.

On the other side of the entrance, Twilight was hurriedly throwing the rocks and boulders out of her way. She was forced to stop when Scourge grabbed her wrist.

"My scans show that you need medical attention, and fast." She scoffed.

"_I_ do? Then what to you think _Cyclonus_ needs?"

"By now, he'll probably need a grave marker and a memorial service." One of the Sweeps muttered to the others. His reward for his crude joke was a rock to the face-plates from Twilight.

"Show some respect, you waste of metal!" Scourge tried pulling the femme away from the rubble once more. He didn't want to believe it anymore than Twilight did, but he had to admit that the chances of Cyclonus surviving seemed pretty low.

"Without putting it bluntly... We may already be too late."

"I refuse to believe that until I've seen it. I understand we don't get all emotional like those pathetic Autobots, but we do have respect and loyalty to our comrades. Or _some_ of us do, at least. Now, I'm going back in there, and I'm finding Cyclonus, no matter what. None of you are stopping me." Scourge sighed, releasing the black and red Decepticon.

"And what if you find him in pieces?" She was quiet for a moment, until her visor flipped back down and her claw blades slid out.

"I'm prepared for that." And with that said, her battle mask slid into place, and she continued excavating.

Hours later, she fell to her knees, exhausted, but refusing to give in. She did give in to desperation, however, and made one last futile attempt to make contact. A yell sounded from not just her vocaliser, but her comm. link, too.

"'_Cyclonus? _**_CYCLONUS?_**'"

Silence was her only reply.

* * *

><p><strong>... I am CRAP at cliffhangers.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	6. Escape

**I'd just like to start this chapter off by thanking _Screamer's girl_ and _Misery's Prescription_ for adding this story to their favorites list! Thank you two so much, it means a lot =D! I'd also like to thank_ TheLoveDov_ for putting this on their story alert subscription list! Thanks you guys =) xx. This chapter was written to Still Waiting by Sum 41, After the Fall by Two Steps From Hell, Infest by Papa Roach, and Liquid Confidence by You Me At Six. Enjoy, and please review!**

**P.S - I should hopefully have Twilight's bio up on my DeviantArt page soon, if anyone's been waiting to see it. Also, I changed my username so it matches my DeviantArt one, I hope it doesn't cause any confusion! X**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus lay beaten on the floor of a remote section of the mines, energon leaking from multiple horrible wounds. He had, of course, fought back when the Draxian attacked, and he had managed to scare it into fleeing, but not before it dealt some serious injuries to him. He sighed. No-one was coming for him, he was just going to offline here, miserably.<p>

Shifting uncomfortably, he wondered when the Draxian would return and put him out of his misery. Deciding to try and think more positive thoughts, he started thinking about Twilight. There were a few questions he needed to ask that stubborn femme, if he ever got out of this wretched cave.

When they had first met, Cyclonus had kept to himself how utterly intimidating the femme's presence was. Seeing her in battle only made her more frightening, but it also brought about a sudden respect, and _now_ he wasn't sure how he felt at all. Trying to open his comm. link, Cyclonus' audios were filled with the irritating sound of static. To most people it was an annoyance, to him, it was a death sentence.

If he couldn't get in contact with Scourge or Twilight, then they'd leave, presuming he was offline. And anyway, who knew when that monstrosity would return? He'd rather not have to watch it devour the femme or one of the only Decepticons he considered a friend.

Offlining his optics, Cyclonus accepted his fate, the last word that barely made it out of his vocaliser echoing off of the cave's damp walls as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Help..."

* * *

><p>Twilight sighed, getting back onto her feet. She'd finally finished moving away all the rubble.<p>

"I've just done a thorough scan of the surrounding area. It appears that there's only that one Draxian left in there. I'll go find Cyclonus while you go and get the energon Lord Galvatron wanted us to find." The Sweep that she had threatened in the control room earlier that day stepped forward.

"If I may, ma'am, I'll accompany you on your search, just in case that monster attacks again." The femme nodded.

"That's greatly appreciated. Now let's move out!" The mechs cautiously headed back into the mine, following Twilight's lead.

"How do we know which way it went?" The Sweep asked as Scourge and the others went off in search of the energon. Twilight didn't speak, she simply pointed to the ground, where a green trail of the creature's blood stained the cave floor.

"We'll follow this trail for now."

"And if it's cold?"

"...Let's not think about that just yet." The two warriors carried on following the green trail of the Draxian's blood, until it suddenly disappeared. Twilight growled, punching the wall.

"Where in the Pit did it go?" She yelled, stepping forward to look around. Suddenly, she slipped and fell down some sort of tunnel that had been burrowed into the ground in front of her.

Ungracefully rolling and tumbling down the tunnel, she found herself in a remote section of the mine. Everywhere she looked there seemed to be skeletons and other remains from creatures that must have been devoured by the Draxian.

She got to her feet, slightly dizzy from the fall. Stumbling for a moment, she finally regained balance and began exploring the creature's lair. She felt something sticky beneath her feet, and looked down to see that the trail of Draxian blood had made its way down the hole. She froze. There were droplets of a different, purple coloured liquid.

Energon.

Twilight began to walk faster, her pace quickening to a run when the little pools of energon became bigger and bigger.  
>And that's when she saw it. Cyclonus' arm. She sighed with relief, but that soon became concern and... Why was there panic? The rest of Cyclonus' body came into view shortly after.<p>

He was intact, but not at all in good shape. Deep gashes and wounds all over his frame leaked unhealthy amounts of energon, but his body was still its usual purple colour, so - to her relief - she knew he was still online. Gently placing a hand to his cheek, she carefully tilted his head so he was looking at her.

"Cyclonus, can you hear me? If you can, I need you to try onlining your optics." She spoke softly, as if addressing a panicked sparkling. His optics onlined slowly, and she let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

><p><em>"Cyclonus, can you hear me? If you can, I need you to try onlining your optics."<em>

Her voice drifted through his damaged audios, soft and caring, but not without an edge of panic and concern. He did as he was asked, watching as she sighed, a warm smile he never thought capable of a Decepticon - much less one of her status - gracing her face-plates.

"Thank Primus you're alright." She stated. He couldn't believe it. She was _here_, with _him_. He was _certain_ that the wounds from the Draxian would've offlined him.

Unless... He _was_ offline?

"Is this... Is this the Well of All Sparks?" She giggled, but the noise didn't sound as insane and taunting as usual. It was no less enchanting and strangely beautiful, but it had a softer ring to it.

"No... We're still in the mine, unfortunately."

"But... How? I was alone... Unless... That monstrosity got you too?" That same giggle, and her visor flipped up, showing her glowing crimson optics.

"No, I came back in here to look for you." He couldn't compute what she was saying. There were two ways he could take this. One, to accept what she had just told him and listen to whatever escape plan she had in mind. Or he could give in to what he thought was most likely. He really _was_ offline, and this was all just a sick game that Primus was playing. But as he tried to move, white-hot pain washed over him once more. He was _definitely_ online.

Yet here she was, Twilight, leaning over him like some sort of guardian angel, concern and panic written all over her face.

"But... Why? Why would you come back for-" He coughed and spluttered, rolling over onto his side and spitting out a mouthful of energon.

"Because I respect you, Cyclonus. I refuse to let you offline if I can do anything about it. So I'm sorry, but you're stuck with me for a while longer." He chuckled.

It had gotten to the point where he was in such a daze that he couldn't even fully compute what he was saying anymore.

"Don't be. I... Twilight... I.."

"Don't speak, you'll only hurt yourself."

"N-no... I... I want you t-to know s-something..."

"You can tell me after you've been patched up. Now let's get you out of here, we've stayed long enough as it is." She moved to lift him up, but as she did, he let out a pained moan. That's when she saw the white object jammed in a deep gash on his stomach. A tooth.

"Oh Primus... That's gotta go..." She muttered to herself.

"What?" She sighed, flipping her visor back down.

"Cyclonus, this is going to hurt like a glitch, but it has to be done."

"What... What are y-you going to do?"

"One of the Draxian's teeth has gotten lodged into a wound, I'm going to have to pull it out."

"D-do what you must..." Wincing, she carefully eased her hands into the wound, gripping the tooth.

She looked down at him apologetically as he flinched and grabbed her injured shoulder. She didn't care about the pain she was in, she just wanted to end _his_.

"I'm sorry, Cyclonus, I can stop, if you want." He shook his head, shuttering his optics.

"J-just do it." She nodded, beginning to tug at the tooth. As she carried on with the extraction, Cyclonus' grip became tighter, but she pushed down her own pain. She offlined her optics when his groans escalated into screams of pain. She began muttering, over and over, "Sorry, sorry, sorry." If he were an Autobot, she'd be rejoicing, her insane laughter joining the pained shouts of the mech she was slowly offlining. But no, not Cyclonus.

Every scream made her feel worse, she wanted to stop but the job had to be finished. With a final pull, the tooth was removed and Twilight tossed it away, helping Cyclonus to his feet. He immediately slumped to the floor, but she held him around the waist. She giggled at his attempts to stay upright by himself.

"You can lean on me, Cyclonus, I don't care. At least your pride is still intact." He couldn't stop the chuckle that came out of his vocaliser.

They slowly made their way to the tunnel Twilight had fallen down, and Cyclonus collapsed at the end. Breathing heavily, he spoke.

"That thing... It's still down here somewhere. It's going to catch us..."

"Relax, Cyclonus. Panicking will get us nowhere. We'll escape, believe in that."

"But... How can I?" She smirked.

"Because I give you my word. And I'll take offence if you don't have faith in me." He nodded with a chuckle.

Suddenly, his systems started to place him under emergency recharge. In a weak attempt to stay awake, he grabbed Twilight's wrist. She jumped slightly, then turned to him.

"No, Cyclonus, stay with me now, come on. Stay awake, you stupid, arrogant mech. Come on, stay with me..."  
>But her voice only made him fall back into his dreamland, and he slipped into emergency recharge once more.<p>

_***SLAP!***_

Cyclonus felt a burning pain in his cheek-plate, waking up once more. Twilight wasn't paying attention to him anymore, and he thought it best not to interrupt whatever she was doing.

"Slag. Hey, Sweep! You still there?" She called up the tunnel.

"Yes, what have you found?"

"I've got Cyclonus! He's online, but he's seriously injured, call Scourge and the others and let them know we're leaving, now!" The Sweep flew down the hole, helping Twilight lift the injured mech.

They arrived at the entrance of the mine just in time to see Scourge put an energon loader in his subspace. The others all gasped at Cyclonus' battered form. The Sweeps transformed, and Scourge picked up the Decepticon SIC's body. They flew back to base, the Sweeps transforming on the move, yelling,

"Medic! We need a medic!" Twilight shushed them, however, and contacted Scourge in a comm. link.

**_'Scourge, follow me, hurry!'_**

The Sweep leader did as he was told, carrying his beaten comrade in his arms without complaint. He stopped when he realised they had reached Twilight's quarters. Said warrior punched the access code into the keypad beside her door, with a little too much force than was probably necessary.

She ran into the room, Scourge following behind her.

"Set him down on the berth, gently!"

"What are you planning on doing?"

"I'm going to repair him." Twilight deadpanned, as if Scourge was stupid.

"Are you sure you don't want Hook-"

"I know what I'm doing, Scourge. You're going to have to trust me. Now please leave. I'll comm. you as soon as his condition has stabilised." Sending her one last look, Scourge walked out the door.

"Just... Just bring him back." He muttered over his shoulder.

"I will."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed!<strong>

******Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.******


	7. Repaired

**Yeah, I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter, I couldn't think of anything for a while. This chapter was written whilst listening to Enjoy the Silence by Lacuna Coil, War by Sick Puppies, Moving Mountains and United we Stand, Divided we Fall by Two Steps From Hell, and The Piano and Time Lapse by Michael Nyman (For a music project). Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus woke up in an unfamiliar room, attached to a monitor that was observing his spark-rate. He turned his head slightly to see Twilight standing on the far side of the room with her back to him, staring out the window.<p>

"Feeling any better?" He jumped at her voice as she turned to face him. Before he could respond, she spoke again.

"You're lucky. The Draxian couldn't keep hold of you long enough for it's venom to seep into your systems. You must've put up quite a fight. Everything that could possibly be repaired has been, it's up to your internal systems to do the rest. I'm afraid that means a lot of resting for quite a while. I've already informed Galvatron of your condition, he gave me permission to put you on medical leave." He simply nodded, still in too much of a daze to speak properly.

She walked over to him, carefully moving the sensor on the end of the wire to a different part of his spark. As she lifted the monitor to move it out of her way, Cyclonus noticed that she winced slightly and irritably rubbed her shoulder.

"H-how's your shoulder?"

"Hm?" She looked at him, processed what he asked, and then she laughed. She _laughed_. He was asking about her welfare and she was _laughing_ at him.

"You were almost ripped to shreds by a huge, venomous _worm_, and you're worried about a little scratch on _my_ shoulder? You truly are one of the only honourable Decepticons I've had the honour of meeting, Cyclonus." He tried to sit up, but she gently sat him back down.

"Need I remind you that that 'little scratch' was given to you by the same breed of huge, venomous worms that nearly ripped me to pieces?" She giggled.

"_I'm_ fine." She pushed him back down as he tried to get up again.

"_You_, on the other hand, need to rest. Don't worry, I'll be carrying out all of your duties while you're on medical leave. Now when I come back, I want to see you resting, got it?" He nodded slightly and she giggled and left the room. The faint glimpse of the corridor he got as the door opened told him that his assumptions were correct. He was in Twilight's quarters.

* * *

><p>In a small room in Soundwave's quarters, the twin Cassetticons, Frenzy and Rumble, were sitting on the floor with a datapad between them. If someone were to see this, no-one would think it odd, and would just be on their way. The only thing that was odd was that the datapad had a list of every mech that was present at base.<p>

"Scourge?" Rumble asked. Frenzy shook his head.

"Nahh, no way."

"In that case, the Sweeps are a no, too." Frenzy nodded in agreement, using his stylus to cross off the names 'Scourge', 'Sweep #1', 'Sweep #2', and 'Sweep #3'.

"Sounders and Galvatron can get crossed off while yer at it." The blue brother stated, crossing off said mechs' names. Rumble kept on talking, unaware of his twin's sudden silence.

"Blitzwing can go as well, given his lil performance at her welcomin' party." Frenzy stood suddenly, clicking his fingers as an idea struck him.

"Hey bro, what about _Cyclonus_?" Rumble scratched his helm thoughtfully.

"Ya know what? That just might work!" And the two Cassetticons ran out of the room, not telling their siblings where they were going or why they had left so suddenly. They didn't have time to. It was time for them to start match-making.

* * *

><p>There was a quiet hiss as the door to Twilight's quarters was pushed open. She walked over to her desk, setting down the stack of datapads she had to fill in. Getting to work, she absentmindedly looked over to the recharging form of Cyclonus. She tilted her head, watching him with soft optics.<p>

_'Okay, get it together, femme! Honestly!'_ Shaking her head, she sighed and focused on the datapad once more.

Two hours later, when Twilight was finally done, she set off towards the throne room to hand the datapads over to Galvatron. The whole process had been dull to say the least, filling in reports for raids and missions. To be honest, she didn't know how Cyclonus did it _every day_.

Entering the throne room, she found Galvatron in what seemed to be a very serious conversation with Scourge and Soundwave. Raising an optic ridge, she slowly made her way towards them, straining her audio receptors.

"-I'm telling you, she was absolutely adamant that we went back in there to look for him!"

"That's a _good_ thing, Scourge, Twilight has loyalty to her comrades."

"B-but Lord Galvatron-" She relaxed slightly when Soundwave spoke up.

"Lord Galvatron, Twilight; not a fool. Cyclonus; important to the Decepticon cause. This factor; her only reason for rescuing him."

"How can you be so sure, Soundwave?"

"Soundwave has known Twilight since creation. Her priorities; Decepticon cause. Emotions; mean next to nothing."

The black and red femme had had enough. She hated being the centre of attention, but she hated being 'gossiped' about even more.

"Galvatron, sire, I have the data pads you required." She walked up to them, pretending she was completely oblivious to their previous conversation. Scourge immediately excused himself, walking over to talk with the Sweeps.

Soundwave merely gave her a look from beneath his cold, crimson visor. She knew that look. He wanted an explanation. She nodded to him, and Galvatron addressed her.

"Twilight, I want a full debriefing of what happened on Drax. _Now_." Once again, she simply nodded. Handing over the datapads to Soundwave, she followed Galvatron into an interrogation room.

_'Well, this is... Pleasant.'_ She thought sarcastically as she sat at one end of a table, opposite Galvatron.

For the most part, the debriefing went well, but now she was struggling.

"-And why did you go back in there, risking your own life, to look for Cyclonus, when there was a high possibility that that he was already offline?" She thought for a moment. To be honest, _she_ wasn't even sure why she did it.

At first she thought it was just because she respected him, and had honour for her teammates and superior officers, but no. When she thought back on it, it was like her spark itself had been pulling her towards him, almost threatening to burst out of it's casing if she didn't find him. Lying was very rarely a wise option when in Galvatron's company, but she had no choice.

"Cyclonus is - as you yourself stated when I first arrived - one of your finest mechs. It would've been cowardly and dishonourable for me to have left him to offline in those pit-spawned caves." She clenched her dentals as Galvatron sat in silence, thinking.

He suddenly leaned forward, dangerously close.

"I believe you, Twilight. I have no reason not to. However, if I find that you are hiding something from me, you will be _severely_ punished." She stood, bowing quickly.

"Understood, sire. Your faith in me is appreciated greatly, as always." She exited the room, a furious glint in her blood red optics.

_'Now to find Scourge and teach him a lesson.'_ She growled when somebody grabbed her wrist. Turning swiftly, intent on rearranging the mech's face-plates, she calmed down when she saw that it was only Soundwave.

Before she could speak, he began to drag her off, successfully pulling her out of the throne room before she wriggled out of his grasp.

"I have no problems with speaking to you, Soundwave, but where are we going?"

"Soundwave's quarters. Privacy; required. Conversation; of grave importance."

"In that case, I can walk by myself." She muttered, stalking past him.

"Apologies." She sighed, running a hand over her head.

"No need to apologise, old friend."

As they arrived at Soundwave's quarters, Twilight smiled softly at the recharging forms of Buzzsaw, Laserbeak and Ravage.

"Young creations; still Twilight's weakness?" She was immediately defensive.

"Oh, says you! How many do you have now?" Soundwave let out a monotonous chuckle.

They sat side by side on his berth, as they had done once before, as sparklings, when the mere mention of war was ridiculous. The navy mech turned to his friend, and she matched his serious stare with a gaze of her own, equally as intense. With an almost silent 'click', Soundwave's face mask pulled back, leaving him to speak freely with one of the only people he had ever shared his true colours with.

She had been in a similar situation before, with another mech. When he had been offlined, she had been sparkbroken. Soundwave often wondered if she still felt the pain of her loss, simply hiding it well. He had also mourned for a while, not showing anyone but Twilight how greatly the loss of such a close friend had affected him.

But she could not afford to lose another. That's why she had long ago detached herself from all feeling, to never feel grief or loss again. The only person she had left was Soundwave, and she was all he had in return, besides his creations.

"Twilight, please tell me I'm wrong in thinking that there was more to that rescue mission than it seems." The femme sighed, bringing her knees up to her chest-plating.

"It's impossible for me to lie to you, old friend, so I'm not even going to try. At first, yes, it was simply my respect for Cyclonus that made me go back in there to look for the arrogant slagger. But as I kept searching, it was like my whole spark threatened to leave my body if I didn't get to him in time. I don't know what's going on, Soundwave, but I don't like it." Soundwave's optics widened ever so slightly behind his visor.

He didn't know _how_ to tell her, so he decided that for now it was best to act like he was also in the dark on the subject. He did, however, give her a warning.

"Galvatron will become suspicious if word of this gets out. Keep this to yourself, Twilight." She looked up at him, and in his processor the image of a severely wounded eighteen-year-old femme covered in energon clouded his optics when she spoke.

"Soundwave, what's happening to me?"

"...I don't know, old friend. But please, try to be careful." She stood, nodding to him.

"I will. ...Whatever happens, I won't make the same mistakes I did with Thundercracker."

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, I now know what I want for Christmas. The ability to make my chapter endings make sense! Yeah, in my mind, Soundwave didn't always speak like he does, and his face mask is what gives him the monotone voice. Yeah... I dunno. I might explain it in some sort of prequel, or one-shot, I honestly don't know. <strong>**Anyway, hope you enjoyed.**

********Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.********


	8. Question

**I'm on a ROLL with this! Written whilst listening to The Battle Theme from Narnia (I have no idea who composed it or what it's really called, I just like the song =P), Battle for Varden by Patrick Doyle (Go read the Inheritance Cycle NAO! Even if the film was an abomination compared to the book =P), All That You Are by Goo Goo Dolls and Bite My Tongue by You Me At Six. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus had never been a light recharger. It would take the loudest sounds to wake him up. That's why the Decepticon SIC was surprised as he found himself being woken up by the faint sound of something small and metal hitting the floor. He looked down, seeing a black stylus rolling across the floor towards him. Looking around the room, he spotted the femme who's quarters he was staying in.<p>

She was flat out, still sat in her chair, hunched forward, head and chest-plating leaning on the desk with her arms dangling limply over the edge. He chuckled at the sight of such an intimidating Decepticon officer looking so vulnerable, recharging on top of a pile of datapads.

Cyclonus raised an optic ridge in confusion when Twilight's visor suddenly flipped down. Her whole frame tensed and her hands balled into fists. After getting over the initial dizziness, Cyclonus managed to sit up properly.

"Twilight?" He spoke quietly, voice almost a whisper. He paused for a second. It was unnatural for a sound that... _Soft_ to come out of his vocaliser, he was used to yelling battle cries and death threats. Shaking it off, he tried again.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Once again, no reply.

She seemed to calm down, her hands grew limp once more and she slouched again, but her visor stayed down. Sighing, Cyclonus turned away to look out the window. Chaar wasn't like Earth, you couldn't guess the time from the colours of the sky. However, it did look darker than usual outside, so the purple jet guessed that he had woken up in the early hours of the morning.

He became alert immediately when he heard a soft, pained sound from the femme beside him. Turning to her, he cocked his head to one side as she extended one arm, hand clenching and unclenching, as if reaching for something. He looked on in confusion as she began to whimper.

Trying once again to wake her up, he was shocked when she cut him off, muttering something in a pained voice laced with fear.

"Thunder... Cracker..."

"What?" He muttered to himself, not completely sure what to make of the whole situation.

_'What the frag is a Thunder-Cracker?'_ She kept repeating that word, still trying to reach for something she was obviously being separated from in her dream - or, well, nightmare.

"Thundercracker... Thundercracker... Thundercracker..." For some reason, Cyclonus wanted nothing more than to stop the pain she was feeling, as she had done for him. In a last ditch effort to awaken her, he gently took the hand that she had outstretched.

"Twilight, wake up. Wake up." He couldn't listen to the sheer hurt in her tone any longer. Then he realised.

_'It's a name... She's calling for someone...'_ His hold on her hand tightened slightly, reassuringly. She gasped, immediately online and sitting up straight, sending the pile of datapads to the floor with a clatter.

She looked over to see Cyclonus' hand still locked in her grip, and hastily let go.

"Apologies, Cyclonus. Did I wake you?" He shook his head.

"You were in recharge when I awoke." She sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"Ah, how long was I out for?" He shrugged.

"At least five or ten minutes." She groaned.

"Ah, I have to finish filling these in." He was hesitant with his reply, knowing from experience that she didn't like being told what to do.

"Maybe you should take a break... You look exhausted." She shook her head, picking up the stylus.

"Galvatron wants these reports finished ASAP, I'll recharge later." Cyclonus sighed, not replying.

They sat in silence, the only noise being the occasional scratching of Twilight's stylus on the datapad. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, there was nothing that needed to be said. For once, they were both at peace, enjoying each-other's company. That was until Cyclonus spoke up.

"Who's Thundercracker?"

There was a loud clatter and an almost inaudible gasp as Twilight dropped the stack of datapads she had picked up to take to Galvatron. Turning to him, she tried to keep emotion from her voice.

"What... W-where did you hear that name?" He was, once again, hesitant with his reply.

"You... You were muttering it whilst in recharge."

"I-I was?" He nodded slowly. Hurriedly picking up the datapads she had dropped, she rushed to the door.

"I... I have to hand these in to Galvatron."

"But you didn't answer my-" Cyclonus' protests were shut off by the slamming of the door, and he simply lay there, question left unanswered.

* * *

><p>As Twilight was walking back to her quarters after giving Galvatron the datapads he had requested, she passed Rumble and Frenzy in the corridor. They looked at her, and then smirked. She mentally face-palmed. That wasn't a simple 'I'm going to get into trouble for doing this but I don't care' smirk, that was the Cassette Twins' trademark 'We're probably going to get in deep slag for this but we're going to drag Twilight into it and blame her' smirk.<p>

Carrying on walking as if she didn't see them, she frowned when they blocked her path. Looks like she was getting the blame for another prank, whether she liked it or not.

"Hey, Twilight, what'cha doin'?"

"Oh, Rumble, Frenzy, I didn't see you there. Maybe it's because you're so damn small." She muttered the last part under her breath as if it were an afterthought.

They still heard, but continued pestering her.

"Geez, what's crawled up your tailpipe?" Rumble asked, while Frenzy, in mock disappointment, muttered,

"Low blow, Twilight. That was a low blow." Somewhere in the background.

"Nothing has crawled up my tailpipe, and I'm doing nothing. Apart from listening to you."

_'Unfortunately.'_

"Well, that's a lie, you were walkin'!"

"Yes, I was walking, what an intelligent observation. And that's what I should be doing now, so goodbye, I'm off to carry on walking." Stepping past them, she wondered why she'd put up with the two of them for that long when they barely came up to her knee and a single flick of her foot would've gotten them out of her way.

All she had to do then was blame it on faulty nerves and run off to Hook before they could tell Soundwave. Yes, that sounded like it would work. Thinking she was safe, she let out a vent and continued on her way, only to hear the 'clank, clank' of two pairs of footsteps beside her own.

"...Where ya walkin' to?" Growling, Twilight rounded on them. Not able to bring herself to get her 'faulty nerves' to send them flying, she yelled instead.

"What do you two want?" Frenzy's reply was immediate, and it was then obvious to her that they'd planned out the whole thing.

"We were wondering if you'd seen Cyclonus, we heard he got beaten up pretty bad by that worm thingy." Rumble continued, making things worse.

"Yeah, we went to Hook, but apparently Cyclonus wasn't repaired by him, and he's not in the med bay. Weird, huh? Do you know where he is?" Oh, _no_. They did _not_ just ask that question. If Twilight knew the twins, she knew _exactly_ where this was going, and she knew them _very_ well.

Carefully, so as not to give them the fuel to start a fire of rumours, she answered.

"He's on medical leave. He'll be in his quarters, recharging."

"See, that's the weird part, we knocked on his door, and there was no-one in!"

"Come to think of it, we called for you as well, but _you_ didn't answer either." Their smirks were growing wider, making it impossible for her to believe - if there was any chance she would've - that they were simply curious of the whereabouts of their superior officer.

Oh, now she _definitely_ knew what they were doing.

_'Primus, have they been _**_watching _**_me? I haven't heard anyone knocking all day... They waited until I left for the control centre! They've timed this whole thing so that they _**_knew _**_no-one would answer the door!'_ Trying her best to keep up her innocent act, she replied as evenly as possible.

"I had left for the control centre and Cyclonus was probably in recharge."

"Why would _you_ be in the control centre?"

"I've taken up Cyclonus' duties whilst he's off."

"Isn't that supposed to be Scourge's job?"

"Remind me when I started caring again?"

She was letting more annoyance seep into her tone now, and they could hear it. They fed on it like they were Draxians, the only difference being that they were - unfortunately for Twilight - smarter. The femme found herself wishing that the damned worm had gotten her instead when Rumble carried on.

"But that still doesn't answer our question, if the Constructicons didn't do it, then who repaired Cyclonus?" And that was it, she'd had enough.

"Listen, I have to go. Play detectives all you like, but don't waste my time with it." Turning on her heel, she stalked off, only to stop abruptly. She tossed over her shoulder,  
>"If rumours about myself and Cyclonus start spreading around base, I know who's to blame." With that, she walked off to her quarters.<p>

The Cassetticon brothers snickered, smirking wildly at each-other. Her threats wouldn't stop them. She wouldn't hurt them, they knew that. But just to be on the safe side, they needed to find someone to place the blame on after they'd finished all the stages of their master match-making plan.

"Phase one; complete." Rumble stated, doing a horrible impression of Soundwave's voice. Oh yes, _no-one_ was stopping them now.

* * *

><p><strong>If anyone thinks I'm going a bit fast with all the Twilight and Cyclonus stuff, let me know, 'cos I was a bit unsure about that part, but it's all I could think of. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, please leave a review!<strong>

********Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.********


	9. Thundercracker

**I wasn't planning on updating tonight, 'cos I had to go out with family, but I managed to find the time. I'd like to thank _female transformer toa_ for adding this story to their faves list! Thanks! Written whilst listening to Battle, I'm Just the Messenger, You're a Soldier Now, Sector 7, N.E.S.T and The Fallen's Arrival, all of which are composed by Steve Jablonsky, for the Bayformers films. Whether you hate the movies or not, the score is fit, listen to it NOW! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>After getting away from the Cassetticon brothers, Twilight headed for her quarters. Passing the Constructicons in the corridor, she ignored the looks they were giving her. The wolf whistles they let out were harder to ignore, but she managed to keep her claw blades sheathed.<p>

Upon entering her quarters, Twilight let out a sigh as she saw that Cyclonus was in recharge. Sinking to the floor with her back resting against the wall, she sat beside the berth, fighting her own recharge systems. To keep herself awake, the femme started to think back on everything that had happened since her arrival at base.

There had been the fight with Blitzwing, the eventful trip to Drax - and meeting it's _lovely_ inhabitants -, almost losing Cyclonus, and Rumble and Frenzy causing problems for her. Then, of course, there was calling for Thundercracker in her sleep.

Running a hand over her head, she silently chastised herself for acting so childishly earlier. Why had she bolted at the mere mention of her old friend's name? Cyclonus hadn't asked anything personal, and yet she had panicked.

Standing, she scowled. All she'd managed to do was give herself a bad image. Firstly, doing something as _weak_ as _crying_ for someone in recharge was _not_ acceptable, then steering away from being questioned about it because of her fear of letting her emotions get the best of her again? Well, that wasn't much better.

Walking to her window, she looked out at the blood red sky that was Chaar's sunset. Such a beautiful shade of red, but such a pitiful, waste of a planet to bestow it's beauty upon. Then again, it wouldn't be as much of a waste if the Decepticons hadn't practically destroyed it.

"Are you ready to tell me who Thundercracker is yet?"

She jumped at the sound of Cyclonus' voice, immediately whipping round to face him. Sighing, she walked over to the mech, checking the one monitor he was still hooked up to.

"Well?" He pressed on, and she knew he wasn't going to leave her alone until he had answers. Twilight looked down, not able to meet his ruby optics that were burning holes in her frame. He sighed.

"If you do not wish to tell me, I can always look him up in the files."

That's when she mumbled something incoherently.

"What was that?" Finally snapping her head up to look at him, she spoke in a voice that was already on the verge of breaking.

"I _said_, the files would not do him justice." Raising an optic ridge, he tried to sit up, but a burning pain in his left side overwhelmed him, and he fell back down.

To his surprise, she was immediately by his side, assisting him. He nodded in thanks, and when she had sunk to the floor beside the berth again, he continued.

"Explain." Swallowing the lump in her throat and holding back tears, that same, pained voice filled his audios again.

"Thundercracker was an excellent warrior. He was brave, loyal, and he fought with honour. He was an... Old friend of mine, we had known each-other since we were sparklings, not long before the war began. A Seeker, one of the best there was, no matter how superior Starscream thought himself to be."

"I grew up with Thundercracker, along with Skywarp and Soundwave. When we attended academy, Starscream joined our little group. Years after, war broke out. Skywarp and Starscream immediately sided with the Decepticons, because of their fathers. Soundwave took longer to decide, but eventually, he made up his mind."

"It was just me and Thundercracker left, but that didn't last long. A group of Autobots searched our home town, looking for bots to recruit and Decepticons to offline. It happened shortly after the other three joined the Decepticon ranks. If it had been the five of us, maybe things would've ended differently. But it was just me and 'TC'."

Cyclonus listened to her story intently, not caring how she was going slightly off topic, but just grateful he finally had some sort of background information on the femme.

"We hid in the bunker, but it wasn't long before they found us. As we were neutrals, they planned on taking us to a shelter, and recruiting us if they saw fit. But I wouldn't have it. I was so fragging stubborn, I had such an urge to prove that these mechs weren't going to make my decision for me."

"As luck would have it, the Autobots sent their most violent soldiers to come and search our house. _Violent_ Autobots," She giggled at her own words.

"Sounds like some sort of myth. But trust me, there are a few. These two in particular. As soon as I showed the faintest signs of resistance, a fight broke out."

Twilight offlined her optics, getting lost in the past. Cyclonus did the same, and somehow, he felt like he was there, watching the scenes play out as she told them. He was just standing on the sidelines, unable to do anything but watch.

"Me and Thundercracker fought with everything we had, but of course, they had the experience. The fight ended when Skywarp's newly appointed team managed to gain the upper hand and all the Autobots in our town were either offline or forced to flee."

"But the two mechs had done their damage. I was as good as offline, and no medic would've gotten there in time. But, thanks to Skywarp's teleporting ability, he managed to get me and Thundercracker to the hospital. Our minds were made up then. An animalistic need for revenge and a reluctance to be separated from those we held close drove us to side with the Decepticons."

The purple jet couldn't believe what he was hearing, and yet he wasn't sure why anger and... _Jealousy_ of all things were stirring in his spark.

"I've never regretted my decision, not once. Especially now that Thundercracker's gone, someone has to keep the memories alive." She abruptly onlined her optics, standing.

"Ah, my apologies, I'm rambling, wasting your time. You should be resting, I'm sorry." To her surprise, and his as well, he shook his head.

"Don't be. It was nice to finally know something about you. Apologies, but I don't have many stories like that to tell."

"I know, and I understand." She smiled at him apologetically, knowing the circumstances under which he was created.

"You're probably going to murder me, but, may I ask another question?" She giggled.

"You just did, but go on."

"Where is Thundercracker now?" She stiffened slightly, but leant back against the wall.

"Offline. Well, as good as. He's been completely reformatted, with no memory of who he once was, or who I am. Or, who I _was_ to him. I never did forgive Starscream for abandoning his trine mates without a second thought, but at least something good came out of it, I guess." Before he could ask, she answered.

"_You_. The only mech - apart from Soundwave - that I can have an intelligent conversation with." Realisation struck him like a blast from Galvatron's cannon.

"But... That means... He... He could be..."

"Yes, he could be you. I doubt it though. You're nothing like each-other, in looks, at least." Cyclonus sighed, lying back down.

"He... Meant a lot to you, didn't he?" She raised an optic ridge at his tone of voice -

_'Is that... __**Sadness**__?'_ - But shrugged it off.

"We were never... _Bonded_, if that's what you're trying to ask. It was more like a brother-sister relationship, nonetheless he was my best friend." She laughed abruptly.

"Ah, listen to me, I sound like a sentimental little Autobot." And suddenly, she was back to her usual self.

The femme completely changed topic, unhooking the monitor.

"You should be out of here by tomorrow, apologies for you having to stay in my quarters." He shook his head.

"Nonsense, I should be apologising for taking up your time. There is one thing though..."

"Go on."

"Why am I in your quarters, exactly?" He didn't miss it when she tensed slightly, rocking back on her heels.

"Well... You couldn't stay in your own quarters, in case there was a sudden change in your condition and no-one could get to you. You had to be put in someone else's quarters until we knew you were stable enough to start work again."

Her reasons were believable, but Cyclonus was surprised at how easily he had figured out that she was lying. To him, she looked like a sparkling who'd been caught doing something they shouldn't have been, and was frantically trying to blame it on someone else. Twilight sighed, sinking into her chair.

"The Constructicons didn't repair me, did they?" She tried not to look surprised at his bluntness. After a while, she let out another sigh.

"I can't get anything past you, can I? I can see why you're second in command. No, they didn't... It was me." It was the most obvious answer, yet the purple mech was still shocked.

"_You_ repaired me? Why?" She sighed.

"Let's just say I don't really... Trust the Constructicons that much. Fair play, they do their job well, but they're more suited to dishing out pain, not getting rid of it. Besides, it's practically my fault you got in this mess anyway."

"Well... Thank you. Not only for repairing me, but for letting me stay here until I'm 'stable' again." She looked at him, and that strange smile graced her face-plates.

"And thank _you_, for listening to my boring stories and putting up with all my scrap."

To his surprise - and relief - Twilight unhooked the monitor.

"I'll leave this off for a while, I'm sure there's not going to be a severe change in your condition right now."

"Thank you, it gets quite irritating after a while."

"Trust me, I know how uncomfortable they are. The amount of time I was hooked up to one once." She rolled her optics, sitting down again.

"And how long was that?"

"Let's put it this way, when me and TC were rushed to hospital after the fight with the Autobots, my condition was a lot worse than yours was earlier." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Always in the wrong place at the wrong time, aren't you?"

"I suppose I am. But I wouldn't be where I am today if I wasn't." Subspacing another stack of datapads, she quickly signed them all before rushing for the door.

"Forgot about these, I'll be back later! Bye, Cyclonus!" He shook his head again, chuckling.

_'She certainly is an unusual one...'_

* * *

><p><strong>There was a bit of a continuity error between this chapter and chapter 7, about the whole 'does Cyc know Twilight fixed him' thing, but it is fixed, so if it's bothering you, you can go back. Hope you enjoyed, please review!<strong>

**********Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**********


	10. Permission

**Sorry this took a while... I'm not exactly happy with this chapter. A bit, okay, a _lot_ of it is out of character. Or _I_ think it is, anyway. I know what I'm writing in future chapters, it's just chapters like this one that need to be there, but are getting in the way. If anyone has any constructive criticism or any ideas to help me, I'd be willing to hear them! I'd like to thank _NiceBeans_ (who I know in person) for adding this story to their faves, adding me to their favorite authors list, subscribing to this and me, and leaving a review. A huge shout out to you _NiceBeans_! Written whilst listening to Broken Wings, One Day Remains, Metalingus and Open Your Eyes by Alter Bridge. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

**EDIT****: ****This chapter takes place 10 weeks after the events of chapter 9.**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus walked through the halls of the Decepticon headquarters. It had taken a while, but he was finally back to normal after the Draxian attack. Well, as far as anyone else could tell, he was just as he was before.<p>

But on the inside, he had changed immensely. If someone were to follow him to his quarters after a day's work, they would see that he constantly checked around corners before walking down them, a very faint case of paranoia still present in his systems. Rarely, there were also nightmares, ones that he had somehow managed to suppress whilst in Twilight's care.

Speaking of the femme, it was obvious to the others at base that the two warriors had grown closer during Cyclonus' stay in her quarters. Obviously, there was the occasional rumour spreading around the hallways as to _how_ exactly they had gotten closer. Cyclonus didn't know for sure, but he had a feeling that Rumble and Frenzy were behind it all, especially since they seemed to snicker every time Twilight and Cyclonus did so much as walk past each-other.

As much as he despised the little troublemakers, Frenzy and Rumble did have a point. Now that they'd gotten to know each-other better, the purple jet did have to admit that an unfamiliar feeling had stirred within his spark. Shaking his head, he scowled to himself.

_'Snap out of it, mech. Whatever it is that you're feeling, it's not likely that she'd feel the same.'_ To hear the words come from himself so sharply hurt even more. Putting on an emotionless mask that even Soundwave would be proud of, Cyclonus walked into the throne room.

Work was tedious, as usual. Filling out and signing datapads. Not that he'd ever say so. Normally, he'd chastise himself for even thinking such things, but being around Twilight had opened his optics a little.

The femme was loyal, but she had no problems speaking her mind, even if it meant speaking against the mighty Galvatron himself. There was as much of a chance of her rebelling against him as there was Swindle putting an end to his scams, but she was not blinded by her loyalty.

And Cyclonus couldn't help but think he was no longer blinded either. Unicron had rebuilt him to be the most loyal second in command, one that would never challenge the actions of his leader, one that would never try to overthrow him.

But then _she_ came along, and suddenly, he felt as if he were seeing the universe through different optics. It was like a slap in the face-plates to Unicron himself. Setting the final datapad into the file, Cyclonus sank down in his chair. The loyal side of him hated himself for admitting it, but he liked the way he saw things now, he preferred it.

With a quiet hiss, the doors to the throne room opened. Galvatron walked in, and Cyclonus noticed that until now, he had been alone in the throne room for quite some time. Standing up and bowing slightly, Cyclonus waited for his leader to give him permission before returning the new stack of datapads.

Galvatron watched in confusion. Sure, the purple jet was quiet whilst doing work, he always had been. But there was an irritable frown placed on the mech's face-plates that was definitely not concerning the information on the datapad. No, this was something that was eating his second in command from the inside out. After a while, the warlord couldn't stand looking at his subordinate's frustrated features.

"Something wrong, Cyclonus?" Said mech's frame immediately went rigid, turning to face the Decepticon leader.

"N-no, not at all My Lord." Galvatron frowned. Cyclonus _never_ lied. Partially because of his loyal programming, but also because he was generally terrible at it. Well, when it came to lying to Galvatron, he was.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Cyclonus?" A shocked look flitted across the tall mech's face-plates.

"Not at all, sire!"

"Then why do you lie to me?"

"My Lord, I would never-"

"You're an awful liar, Cyclonus. Something's bothering you, and I want to know what."

"Please do not take offence, sire, but even if I did explain, I'm not sure you could help."

"Tell me, Cyclonus, that's an order." Galvatron's second sighed.

"I have this weird... Feeling in my spark." Galvatron's optic ridge raised slightly.

"Go on."

"It's like... I have this urge to, well... Protect... Someone. It's almost as if I couldn't bear the thought of them being harmed, like my spark would literally be torn from it's casing if anything were to happen to them. I can't stop thinking about them and whenever I hear their name-"

Cyclonus quickly silenced himself, knowing he had already said too much. Galvatron let his SIC's words sink in before a smirk appeared on his face-plates.

"Do you, perhaps, know something, my lord?"

The leader of the Decepticons started to laugh hysterically. Cyclonus, slightly embarrassed, turned back to the datapad he had been filling in. The small sound of metal hitting metal was heard as Galvatron walked over to his throne and sat down. There was a split-second of silence, one that Cyclonus wished could've lasted for a century, before Galvatron spoke, still chuckling slightly.

"I've felt that same feeling once before, when I was the being designated Megatron. It's Twilight, isn't it? You love her."

Cyclonus dropped his stylus, whipping round to face Galvatron. His leader's time as Megatron was rarely spoken of, only in serious conversations. He didn't know what to say. If he said no, he'd be beaten for lying, if he said yes, he'd probably be beaten as well. It took a while, but he finally made a decision.

"N-no, Mighty Galvatr-"

"Don't lie to me, Cyclonus! Now, I'll ask again. It's Twilight that you have feelings for, isn't it?" The answer he heard was barely audible, as the mech hung his head in what looked like shame.

"Yes, my lord." Galvatron burst into another fit of laughter.

"Out of all the mechs..."

"F-forgive me, Mighty Galvatron! I should not think of her-"

"No need for apologies, Cyclonus. Almost every mech at base thinks the femme's good-looking. Out of them all, you're the only one I'd actually trust."

Cyclonus fought back the growl that was rising in his vocaliser. Yes, he was glad that Galvatron had voiced his trust in him. But he knew what his leader was trying to say. It didn't take a scientist to figure out just what practically every other mech's intentions for the femme were. The mech was brought out of his thoughts when Galvatron rested an elbow on the arm of his throne, then, placing his chin on his upturned palm, addressed his second.

"Love is an emotion very rarely felt by Decepticon warriors, especially of such a high rank like yourself. Emotions are what makes the Autobots so weak, that's why Decepticons tend to stay void of them. The others' opinion of Twilight was made clear the moment she arrived, and so were their intentions. You, however, actually hold respect for her, and she seems to have 'opened up' to you..." Cyclonus watched in hesitation as the regal mech grew silent.

"Very well!" Cyclonus jumped slightly at the sudden change in his commander's tone. Fierce crimson optics locking onto Cyclonus' own, Galvatron picked up where he left off.

"Twilight is like a daughter to me, Cyclonus. Given that she means so much to me, I made it clear that no-one was to try anything with her. But... you are different. Cyclonus, I give you permission to court Twilight." The purple jet looked at his leader with an unreadable expression.

"I am most grateful, My Lord... But, why?" The rest of the question was carried to Galvatron in the look Cyclonus was giving him. It had completely morphed into utter confusion and shock.

"Like I said, you respect her, you respect the fact that she isn't just a femme with good looks, but one that is an amazing warrior, and a loyal and brave Decepticon. It is clear that the feelings you are harbouring are not just a childish, sick, lust, but something far beyond that. She has affected your very spark, your core, it is obvious in the way that you speak of her, the way that you look at her."

Cyclonus couldn't help the slight embarrassment. Had it been _that_ obvious?

"Thank you, sire." Galvatron nodded with a chuckle.

"Ah, but I wish you luck, Cyclonus. Twilight does not fall for petty compliments and beautiful gifts. She is a warrior, and love is just as absent in her spark as with any other Decepticon, even more so, perhaps." The jet nodded, still not fully grasping the situation. As he turned to walk out of the throne room, stack of datapads in hand, Galvatron called after him, voice taking on a much darker, threatening tone.

"Oh, and Cyclonus? Do _anything_ to her against her will, and I will personally see to it that your spark is ripped from your chest." Turning so quickly he almost tripped over his own feet, Cyclonus replied,

"I would _never_ do such a thing, Mighty Galvatron!"

As he returned to his quarters, a thought popped into his processor abruptly.

_'She'd probably kick my aft before I could even think of trying to do anything anyway.'_ With a chuckle, he continued walking slowly down the corridors.

If anyone were to follow Cyclonus to his quarters on this particular evening, they would notice that he was not checking around corners, or turning his head at every small sound he heard. No, he was now filled with a newfound determination, one that was drowning out those last little glitches of paranoia.

_'I will make her mine.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Like I said, if you think this is too OOC for either Galvatron or Cyclonus (or both) let me know, advice would be appreciated, but don't bother flaming, you will be ignored.<strong>

************Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.************


	11. Encounter

**I wasn't sure whether to update or not tonight, but I came home from school to two lovely reviews, so I thought I should say thank you with an update. Thank you to _Screamer's girl _and_ _Coli Chibi __for reviewing! Also, a huge thank you to__ _XmidnightXeclipseX___ (Who I also know in person) for texting your review to me as you couldn't log in. Thanks, mate =) xx! Written whilst listening to Storytime, Last Ride of the Day, Bye Bye Beautiful and Ghost River, all of which are by Nightwish. Oh, and I'm afraid this is another one of those 'in the way' chapters, I promise the story will be moving along soon. I forgot to mention that chapter 10 took place 10 weeks after the events of chapter 9, I'll go back and edit that now. **Enjoy!****

* * *

><p>The Autobot triple-changer Springer sat in the repair bay, First Aid hurriedly tending to multiple gashes and tears in his wiring.<p>

"Let me get this straight, a _femme_ attacked you? A _Decepticon_ femme?" Rodimus Prime sat on a vacant berth beside the green mech. Springer nodded.

"Yeah, a slagging _powerful_ one, too." The young Prime stood, pacing.

"I just don't get it. Since when were there any femmes in the Decepticon ranks? Tell me what happened again, please." The injured soldier nodded once more, shifting uncomfortably as he retold his story.

"I was just doing my shift in the control room when the camera in the energon store room flickered out. Naturally, I went to investigate. The moment I walked through the door something hit me outta nowhere! The lights had all been put out, and all I could see was a pair of red optics."

"Before I could react, the 'Con attacked again. I managed to get through to Perceptor and First Aid, but, by the time they got there, the 'Con had vanished. At one point, whoever it was stepped into the light that a crack in the ceiling was letting in, and it was clearly a femme." Arcee came running in with Kup not far behind her. The older mech sat next to a now still Rodimus.

"Springer, what did the femme look like?" He asked.

"I only saw her for a moment, then she got another hit in and I was out cold. From what I can remember, she was tall, with black and red armour, she had a visor, but her optics were still visible behind it. She had these horn-like audios, and at one point, she had a battle mask on. That's about it."

"Was she wearing the Decepticon insignia?" Arcee asked, hoping that this femme was simply a rogue neutral, or perhaps a Decepticon rebel. Springer cocked his head to the side, thoughtful. After a moment, he nodded.

"Yeah, it was somewhere on her neck, I think." The pink femme sighed.

"The strangest thing was, she didn't seem to have a gun or any sort of cannon. She had these claw blades that extended from her hands. That's how I ended up like this."

"Wait a second, claw blades?" Everyone jumped slightly as Kup yelled. Springer nodded.

"Like I said, they were the only weapons she seemed to have on her." Kup caught everyone by surprise as he stood, turning to Rodimus.

"This is bad, Rodimus. Very, _very_ bad."

"Do you know this femme, Kup?" The mech nodded.

"Her designation is Twilight. She's been Megatron's - and now Galvatron's - secret weapon for centuries. She was the leader of the 'Con spy unit in Iacon. Megatron never called her to Earth, wanting to keep her as a 'last resort', of sorts. It seems Galvatron has now decided that it's time to reveal the Decepticons' most deadly weapon's identity. And that spells trouble for us."

"She's ruthless, sadistic. Those who have been brave enough to fight her haven't lived to tell the tale, she leaves no survivors. If it comes to it, she'll slaughter mechs of her own faction. There's no record of her existence in the files, if she leads an attack, we'll be completely blind."

All the Autobots in the med bay looked at each other in disbelief and shock. Could she really be as bad as Kup said? As much as they wanted to deny it, the older mech's tone of voice was serious, solid. This wasn't just one of his old stories.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Rodimus called for an emergency meeting in the control room. He told all Autobots present about the Decepticon femme called Twilight. Most of all, about how much of a threat she apparently was to the Autobots and their cause.<p>

"No-one is to face her in battle alone. We are not certain of her abilities on the battlefield, but, as blind as we are, it's better to stick with each other. In this situation, it's safety in numbers. Dismissed." There was the usual chatter as the Autobots started filing out of the control room's doors. Ultra Magnus, however, stayed, walking up to Rodimus.

"Are you sure she's as dangerous as Kup says? I'm not saying I don't believe him, I'm just saying he has a tendency to... Exaggerate when telling those old war stories of his." The Prime nodded.

"I know what you mean, I thought the same at first. But I don't think this is just an old war story of his, this time. We'll need to see her in battle first before we can make a decision." The tall mech nodded, leaving the room. Rodimus had noticed how much Magnus' mood had changed after the mention of the femme's name, and couldn't help but think that something wasn't right about it...

* * *

><p>The SIC of the Decepticons wandered aimlessly through the halls of the base, having finished his duties earlier than expected. He bypassed the corridor that lead to his quarters. As he did so, a familiar noise echoed down the halls.<p>

**_*SLAP!*_**

Picking up his pace a little, Cyclonus poked his head around the corner, optics widening in confusion and then anger at what he saw. He could just about see Twilight's form from where the Constructicons were crowded around her in a half circle. Her back was against the wall, her head turned to the side as she spat out a mouthful of energon. There was a barely visible crack in the armour along her cheek from where one of the Constructicons had obviously slapped her.

"You see, dear, we don't really appreciate being ignored." Twilight stayed silent, her optics neither widened in fear nor narrowed in a glare.

"You shouldn't have been as naive to think that your presence would simply go ignored because of Galvatron's warning."

Cyclonus had never wanted to punch Scavenger so much.

_'Go and teach him a lesson!'_ His spark screamed at him to do something, _anything_, but his body was rooted to the spot.

_'Twilight can handle this.'_

As she leaned forward, Hook grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her against the wall.

"Besides, a femme as beautiful as you deserves... _attention_." The medic pressed himself against her. Cyclonus suppressed a growl.

_'She can get herself out of this... Then _**_why _**_hasn't she done anything?'_ He let out an almost silent sigh of relief when the femme let out a growl.

Hook showed no signs of letting up, not at all deterred by the little - and probably the only - warning Twilight was giving them. Mixmaster stepped forward, roughly holding her by the chin and turning her face towards him.

"C'mon baby, don't be like that." Scrapper spoke up, moving towards her.

"Yeah, why don't you have some fun with real mechs?" She let out a short, sharp laugh.

"_HA_! A _real_ mech? When I find one, I'll let you know." That earned her an annoyed growl from the six mechs surrounding her, and Long Haul grabbed her by her curved audio and smacked her head against the wall.

The hit left her feeling dizzy, but not dizzy enough so that she couldn't keep up her stoic, emotionless expression.

"You did it with Cyclonus, didn't you? So, why not us?" Her optics widened ever so slightly. So did Cyclonus' from where he was hiding around the corner. Hook leaned closer to her to mutter in her audio.

"What does he have that we don't? Go on, enlighten us. Why'd you frag him?"

"I didn't 'frag' Cyclonus. You're all idiotic to believe that I did. Although, I wish I _had_ if it meant getting you six off my case." Said mech looked on in disbelief.

_'What is she _**_saying_**_? Relax, you moron... She clearly said it for different reasons than what _**_you're _**_thinking.'_ Cyclonus was lucky that no-one could see him as he fought frantically to try and control the blush that was creeping over his face plates.

"What did you say?" The Constructicons obviously weren't as happy as Cyclonus was to hear Twilight say such a thing. Hook's knee slammed into her tanks before she could utter another smart comeback. As she fell to her knees, the Decepticon SIC was more than ready to move into action, but Twilight's trademark smirk appeared on her face plates.

Before any of the mechs could react, her claw blades were rammed deep into Hook's knee, and the mech let out a scream of pain. Scavenger's shoulder was soon in the same condition, as was Bonecrusher's. In quick succession, all six mechs were cowering on the floor, holding their injured limbs.

"Sorry, mechs. I'd had enough of your sparkling's play. If you think I'd give myself to you, then you're terribly mistaken. And if you ever try something like this again, you won't live to regret it." Scavenger had the ball bearings to speak.

"What're you going to do, run off to Galvatron?" Cyclonus watched as a darker look crossed her face-plates, if that were even possible.

"Now, why would I do that? It'd be much easier, and more entertaining, if I were to silence you myself." Turning around and letting out her usual taunting giggle, Twilight was gone, heading for her quarters.

Cyclonus followed, but at a distance, so she didn't see him. She'd already entered her quarters when he reached her door. Carefully pressing an elongated audio against the cool metal, he heard nothing.

_'She's fine, don't go in there. You'll just make a fool of yourself.'_

Cyclonus scolded himself for not coming up with anything to say beforehand. Besides, he'd have to explain how he knew about the whole incident with the Constructicons, he wasn't supposed to have overheard. Moving to his own room next door, the purple jet punched in his access code and entered his quarters with a sigh.

He was at a loss, he thought, shutting the door behind him and laying down on his berth. How in the Pit was he supposed to tell Twilight how he felt? He had next to no experience with this sort of thing, and he was almost certain that Twilight wouldn't be as easy to 'woo' as most femmes. He rolled onto his side, trying to fall into recharge.

_'I'll find a way, even if it means taking a more direct approach...'_

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed, I thought it was finally time to introduce the Autobots into the story XD. Reviews are appreciated, as is constructive criticism and any ideas for future chapters.<strong>

************Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.************


	12. Magnus

**Sorry if anyone's been waiting for this, had a lot to do these past few days, and my step-dad's side of the family's going through a rough patch at the moment, so updates might possibly be less frequent than usual, apologies. Written whilst listening to Nothin's Gonna Stand In Our Way by Spectre General, Dare and The Touch by Stan Bush. This chapter takes place about two weeks after chapter 11. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"<em>How<em> could you have let this _HAPPEN_?" Galvatron swung his cannon arm around, the cylindrical weapon aimed straight at Swindle's head.

"I-I'm so very sorry, Lord Galvatron, she just-"

"Sorry, isn't going to bring back one of my elites!" The warlord punched the wall, leaving a large dent next to the five identical ones he had already made.

Beside the throne, a little way away from where Galvatron had started pacing, Cyclonus was panicking. During their most recent battle with the Autobots, Twilight had been captured. The Decepticon saboteur knew they weren't going to kill her, and Pit, she had less of a chance of being assaulted there than she did here at base!

But - having never been captured before - Cyclonus wasn't sure to what lengths the Autobots would go to get their prisoners talking. He was fairly sure she'd be okay, but there was still that doubtful nagging in the back of his processor.

"Cyclonus!" He immediately straightened as his name was called.

"Yes, Mighty Galvatron?" The SIC had never seen that look in his leader's optics before. They had a crazed look to them. Well, more of a crazed look than usual. It wasn't a nice feeling that stirred at the pit of his tanks when that utterly furious glare was directed at him.

"You are to lead a... 'rescue' mission at once. Take Soundwave and Astrotrain with you!"

"Right now? But, Mighty Galvatron, we must plan-"

"That's an order, Cyclonus! Go! _NOW_!"

The purple jet nodded, he knew better than to argue further. But as much as he wanted to save Twilight, he had no idea exactly _how_ he was going to do it without any preparation. Galvatron rarely ordered a rescue mission, his troops were usually deemed 'replaceable' if they could not escape by themselves. It was at that moment that Cyclonus, and perhaps a few of the other mechs, realised just how important Twilight was.

* * *

><p>Twilight was locked up in the Autobot brig, chained to the back wall by her left wrist and right ankle. She was sitting calmly, back lent against the wall, optics offlined, visor down. She was sporting a few deep wounds, but none too severe. The constant leaking of energon was making it look worse than it was. She knew there was no point in trying to kick down the walls, or in threatening the guards stood outside her cell.<p>

If there even were any, she couldn't be sure. The small box of a cell that she was being kept in, she thought with irony, actually looked a lot like her quarters, minus the furniture. It was also smaller. A _lot_ smaller.

In fact, the space - or lack thereof - she was being confined to was making her go crazy. After the first half an hour, the walls had started to look like they were closing in on her. She had given up pacing then, even though the ridiculous way in which they had chained her made it hard to do so anyway, along with her ankle, which was almost certainly broken.

She briefly wondered if they had done that on purpose. Put her in the smallest cell and chained her in the most idiotic way just to make her go crazy. A smirk flitted across her lip-plates when she realised that that was the sort of thing Skywarp would say.

Her spark clenched slightly, painfully. She missed them, her 'brothers'.

_'Haha, told ya those Autogeeks'd get'cha if ya kept fightin' with that attitude.'_ Skywarp's laughter rung in her processor, his words hanging around her like an annoying fog.

_'Great, now I'm hearing my dead friend mocking me. This place really _**_is _**_making me go insane. Wherever you are Skywarp, I know you're laughing at me right now. How... _**_Reassuring_**_.'_ Her happier thoughts trailed off down a darker path.

Just this once, she had to admit that the Autobots had gained the upper hand against her. It suddenly dawned on her that this was no longer a matter of getting back to Galvatron and apologising for her weakness, no, this was a matter of making sure her winning streak was never broken again, and she'd start her recovery by slowly and painfully taking down the mech who had done this to her.

Her thoughts were shattered completely, optics onlining as she heard movement from outside her cell door. Through the thick, almost impenetrable walls, she could only make out a few bits and pieces of the mechs' conversation.

"Is the femme ready for interrogation?"

_'Interrogation, huh? Didn't think the 'Bots had the ball bearings.'_ Deciding it was better to 'play dead', she offlined her optics once more, straining her audios a little further so she could hear the mechs come in.

She heard the door slowly open with a creak of it's hinges, and silently slumped into a recharging pose. She recognised the mech that spoke immediately.

"I know you're not in recharge, Twilight." The femme mentally sighed. There was no getting past _this_ mech. She sat up, knowing that her facade was useless.

"Then you should know that I'm not spilling any info, no matter what you do." Her voice was stoic, emotionless, save for the slight hint of irritation that she expelled immediately.

"Oh, we're not after info," Her interrogator waved the thought off.

"Well, not about Galvatron's plans, at least." She didn't mask her curiosity, optic ridge raised. She did, however, refuse to say anything, trying to make herself more comfortable. In her current state, she wasn't going anywhere soon.

Her broken ankle made it hard to do anything, and she cursed herself for letting herself get into this mess.

"We fought against each other, once. Do you remember?" She didn't show any signs that she had heard him, still refusing to talk.

"Back then, you had a mech fighting alongside you. Where is he now?" She didn't answer, simply staring the older mech dead in the optics.

"His name was Nightslash, wasn't it? He was your lieutenant. There were five 'Cons in your spy team. Yourself, Nightslash, Firecracker, Techno and Accelerator." Once again, no response. The mech sighed.

"C'mon kid, I know you're not stupid. Pit, you're probably the _only_ intelligent Decepticon I know!"

_That_ struck a nerve. The femme still did not speak, but her head snapped up to attention, and her optics narrowed slightly. Eventually, she sighed in defeat. None of this intel mattered to Galvatron or the Decepticon cause, there was no harm in telling useless information.

"Yes, _Kup_, his name was Nightslash. Yes, he was my lieutenant. Yes, there were five of us who were sent to Iacon to spy on the Autobot base there. Yes, they were the five Decepticons you mentioned. Nightslash is offline. He went against my chain of command and ordered a head-on attack on your Autobot base. He also got the rest of my team offlined in doing so."

Twilight could tell by the look on the war veteran's face-plates that he already knew all this. Why was he asking her then? Even if he _didn't_ know, none of this mattered to anyone, so it _still_ didn't make sense.

"I believe you gave him a piece of your mind after his little rebellious act, didn't you?" She growled, rubbing her wrist where the shackle was digging into the armour.

"Yes, I dealt him a few hits for his foolish behavior. But, _I'm_ not the one you can thank for his offlining." Kup raised an optic ridge slightly.

"Oh yeah? Then who is?" Twilight couldn't get her head around it, this information was no longer of any value to either faction. Why did the Autobots want to know all this _now_? She scowled, utter contempt lacing every word:

"The mech you call _Ultra Magnus_."

* * *

><p>"Alright then, Autobot. I answer your questions, you answer mine." Twilight growled, glaring at Kup.<p>

"Ask away, we've got plenty of time." Kup let out a small chuckle.

_'Oh Primus, it gets _**_worse_**_. First, they actually gain the upper hand, then they interrogate me about info that doesn't mean anything to anyone. Now they're not only wasting my time, but they're also laughing at my expense. Skywarp, you'd be having a field day with this.'_

"First of all, why did you capture me? Second of all, what in the Pit do you plan on doing with me? And finally, _why_ did you want to know all that _useless_ information?"

"We captured you because you're the only 'Con that knows the intel we were lookin' for. We'll release you as soon as we get all the info we want. That information may be useless to you, but it isn't to us."

"We were just getting our facts straight so we knew what we were up against. Well, sorry kid, but my shift's over. Another mech'll be in later." Twilight's processor worked double time.

_'To know what they were up against...'_

Then it hit her.

_'_**_Me_**_... Oh slag. Oh _**_slag_**_!'_ The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. _She_ was the only 'Con that knew this info because it was about _herself._ They were getting background information on her so they weren't in the dark the next time they fought!

They'd already seen her in battle, so they'd seen some of her skills. Now they could go into her team's files and check for any background information. Primus, and she'd just let them have it all!

This was just getting worse and worse. She hoped Soundwave, the cassettes and Cyclonus were having a better day.

* * *

><p>Beneath that crimson visor and the ice white mask, Cyclonus could never tell what Soundwave was expressing. That was obviously the point of such features, and they did their job extremely well. This time, however, Cyclonus could feel the communications mech's optics burning holes in his back. The purple jet couldn't look into the navy cassette player's stare, it was unsettling.<p>

They finally arrived at the Autobot base Twilight had been taken to, and Cyclonus was practically out of Astrotrain's door before the mech had even touched ground. The three of them split up, Cyclonus and Astrotrain to go and find Twilight, Soundwave to go to the communications centre and block the Autobot's communication systems.

The two mechs came to a fork in the corridor. They nodded to each-other, Cyclonus going down the left corridor with Astrotrain heading down the right. The purple mech placed a hand over his chest plating. His spark was doing somersaults.

_'What could they have done to her? Surely they wouldn't...'_ He shook his head, whatever state she was in didn't matter at the moment, he just hoped he got there in time.

* * *

><p>Twilight resumed her recharging act as the door to her cell opened once more. She knew it wasn't Kup, the energy signature wasn't anything like his. Hoping she'd fool the new mech, she turned her head to face the wall, she wasn't in the mood for petty little conversations.<p>

"Kup told me you'd do this." She recognised the voice immediately, whipping round to face him. For the first time since her capture, she fought against the shackles.

"_You_!" The mech seemed shocked, backing away slightly. As quickly as she had stood, she sunk to the floor again, knowing her little display had only gained her more questions for him to ask.

Ultra Magnus slowly made his way towards the femme, careful not to anger her again. As soon as he got within range, however, she swung a punch his way. Barely dodging, he sighed, getting out a small remote with a single button on it. He could see curiosity glitter in the femme's pretty optics, yet she remained silent, as stubborn as ever.

Pushing the button, two chains ejected from the wall, trapping Twilight's free wrist and ankle. The femme sighed. She couldn't keep up her silent streak with him. To put it bluntly, she'd become fed up with sitting and doing nothing, and this damn mech had messed up enough in her life to just go unpunished. Although, looking down at her broken ankle that had now become worse because of the shackle, there was not much she could do to teach him a lesson.

She sat on the floor, cross-legged like a grumpy youngling. Folding her arms across her chest-plates, she looked away, refusing to meet his gaze.

"You've gathered enough information about me. Next time we fight, it'll be fair... In some aspects. Now, finish me off, release me, feed me to Sharkticons, I don't care, I just want to be out of this cell."

_'And away from _**_you_**_.'_

"Would you just look at me, please?" She scoffed.

"If you expect me to talk, don't expect me to waste my optical energy glaring at an eyesore like _you_." The mech's head lowered, his tone of voice changing, quieter, hurt.

"What did I do... to make you _hate_ me so much?" His voice was almost a whisper, nothing like the Ultra Magnus she once knew.

"You can't figure that out for yourself? I thought Autobots were smarter than that, especially you." At least he'd gotten her to talk.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Don't." Where in the Pit had he gone wrong? Sure, she was always closer to those two Seekers and Soundwave, but they used to be friends... Didn't they? This time, she spoke first. When she did, he wished she hadn't.

"If I were to write down _all_ the reasons I have for hating you, Autobot, I could make a list so long Kup would fall into recharge before he'd finished the _first page_." There were no emotions in her words, aside from bitterness. He had to make her go on, had to know why he had lost her to the Decepticons all those years ago.

"Well, go on then. Tell me a few. Give me a heads up." Surprisingly, she complied.

"You're an Autobot."

"_That_ one's obvious."

"You offlined my lieutenant."

"You didn't even _like_ him."

"You're the reason I got into this mess."

"I was on the defensive, _you_ attacked _me_."

"You refused to believe me when I told you what my parents had been doing to me." _That_ was harsh.

"...Twi-"

"You didn't help me that day I got the slag kicked out of me by Autobots, before I'd chosen sides."

"If I had known-"

"You _did_ know! You were an Autobot _then_! In fact, _you_ were part of the team that searched my town!" He didn't respond. He couldn't. Her words cut right into his spark, deeper than any weapon ever could.

"And do you know what the worst thing is?" She didn't wait for any words, or the shake of his head.

"You think too lowly of yourself. You're fit to be leader, more so than Rodimus Prime. Matrix-Bearer or not, you have potential, Autobot. You always have. But you never acknowledge it." He was stunned. Was that _really_ her _most important_ reason?

Despite the wave of hurt her words had washed over him, he felt hope, hope that the Twilight he knew and loved was still hidden _somewhere_ in that twisted spark. Hope that maybe, he could make things _right_.

* * *

><p><strong>...Because I felt the need to emotionally attach Twilight to another canon character! *shot* Sorry if Twilight comes across as a Mary-Sue in this chapter, I hope she doesn't. Anyway, please review if you enjoyed! And sorry, I had a bit of an italic fit in this chapter XD.<strong>

************Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Nightslash, Firecracker, Techno and Accelerator.************


	13. Rescue

**Christmas holidays have officially started! YES! Which means more updates! If anyone's still reading this... XD. I don't think I've had a review since I introduced the Autobots... hmm... XD. Well, this was written whilst listening to Set Fire to the Rain and Turning Tables by Adele, Dream Catch Me by Newton Faulkner, and Lilium from Elfen Lied, I'm afraid I don't know who sings it, but whoever they are, they have a wonderful voice. Recently started to watch that anime, and I'm now wondering why in the hell I haven't watched it sooner, tis AWESOME! I'm only on episode five though, so no spoilers, please! Anyway, on with the chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus returned to his office, utterly defeated. He had simply left Twilight without a word. There was nothing else he could have said.<p>

_'You think too lowly of yourself... You think too lowly of yourself... You-'_

The large mech's head snapped up at the familiar sound of sirens and the sight of the red warning lights that indicated an intruder had infiltrated the base. Rodimus' voice startled him through a comm. link.

_'We've got three Decepticon intruders. It seems the femme really is as important as we thought.'_ Magnus' spark twisted in annoyance. She _did_ have a name, why couldn't anyone use it?

He shook the thought off, he had bigger problems to deal with. If the 'Cons took her back now, what were the chances of seeing her again? Only in battle, and neither of them were in a position to speak whilst aiming to kill. Rather, whilst Twilight was aiming to kill _him_ as he tried to apologise.

Besides, who knew what the 'Cons were doing to her? Sure, she could take care of herself, he knew that for a fact, but how many mechs were there at the Decepticon base compared to the one of her?

He shook his head violently, running off down to the brig. He didn't want to think about that. There were no recent scars on her frame, apart from the one's _he_ would have left. Guilt and shame ate away at him like cosmic rust. He didn't know it was her at the time. He had simply shot to defend himself, it hadn't once crossed his mind that it would've been his childhood crush that had completely torn out his spark when she had left to join the Decepticons.

* * *

><p>Astrotrain ran through the Autobot brig's corridor, occasionally changing into his train alt mode to mow down a few new recruits that dared to step in his path. If he managed to find the slagging femme, Galvatron might lay off the random punches and cannon blasts for a while. At least, that's what he hoped. Although, he supposed, that also depended on what condition he found her in.<p>

The Autobots had either been foolish enough to leave the femme's energy signature unmasked, or Soundwave had already managed to shut off the signal interference. Either way, she wasn't hard to find. With a few kicks and a shot from his gun, the lock on the cell door was no more. Entering the cell, he found the femme unharmed, save for a nasty gash on her ankle that the shackle was cutting into even further.

"You alright, Twilight?"

"I'm fine, Astrotrain." The situation couldn't get any more awkward.

Twilight couldn't understand why _Astrotrain_, of _all_ the mechs, was the one helping her out of her chains. Of course, he wouldn't be here on his own, but... If that was true, where were the others? To be honest, she was relieved that he was here, she hadn't expected to be rescued. Grateful as she was, Twilight didn't particularly like the mech, for reasons she kept to herself.

With the shackles finally off, Twilight tried to take her first step of freedom. Luckily Astrotrain caught her when she fell in agony.

_'That broken ankle must be lot worse than it looks.'_

"Well, like it or not, I'm gonna have to carry you outta here." She glared at him, even though she knew he was right. She couldn't even walk _with_ his support, it truly was an embarrassing moment.

Her embarrassment was soon clouded by anger and hatred when she heard footsteps coming their way and detected the irritatingly familiar energy signature of Ultra Magnus.

"We're getting out of here, _now_." She growled, more embarrassment flooding her as Astrotrain picked her up 'bridal style'. Taking his gun, she promptly shot a hole in the cell wall. It turns out that Ultra Magnus wasn't alone, however. And so the chase began.

* * *

><p>Panting heavily, Astrotrain sunk down to the floor in a quiet corridor of the Autobot base. Twilight was leaning against the wall next to him, testing how much pressure she could put on her injured ankle now that her repair systems had kicked in.<p>

"I should be alright to walk now." She stated, more to herself than to the tired mech beside her. The triple changer simply nodded. He knew why she didn't like him, and he thought that now was the time to straighten things out.

"I didn't want to leave them behind, y'know..." The femme gave him a puzzled look.

"TC and 'Warp. I didn't want to leave them to offline, but I honestly couldn't carry you all. When I said we needed to lighten the load, I wasn't suggesting-" The femme placed a hand on his shoulder, silencing him.

"You don't have to explain, I understand. If we had had a choice at the time, I think we all know that we wouldn't have abandoned them." The triple changer, slightly shocked that she had accepted his apology - if you could even call it that - so quickly, just nodded again.

"Although," She spoke again, "Why we didn't just push _Starscream_ and the Insecticons out I _don't_ know." She was looking at him with that trademark smirk of hers.

"At least Galvatron got rid of _that_ processor ache."

"Yeah, then he gave us a new one. _Himself_." They both chuckled slightly, but the sound was cut off when Twilight sensed Ultra Magnus catching up to them again. Before they could get moving, there was a loud **_BANG!_** and the whole building shook.

"The _Pit_?" Twilight muttered to herself, quickly using her arms to cover her head when the ceiling started to cave in. She looked to the grey and purple mech beside her, but he simply shrugged as best he could with his arms forming a protective barrier over his helm.

"We're gonna have to get movin'!" She nodded.

Astrotrain cautiously put an arm around the femme's waist to support her, and she managed to get her arm around his shoulders. They started moving again, when two familiar voices stopped them dead.

"Hey, hey you guys, wait up!" Rumble was yelling, huge chunks of the ceiling threatening to fall on his tiny frame. Frenzy's drills were slicing any rubble out of their way. The red and black twin yelled,

"This 'espionage' thing ain't goin' as Sounders planned!" Twilight sighed, letting them climb onto her shoulders.

"Take two." She stated with a sarcastic smile.

Astrotrain nodded, and they began their escape once more. Whoever Galvatron had sent to get Twilight back as well as Soundwave, the cassettes and Astrotrain had done an excellent job in wrecking the Autobot's base, she thought dully, ignoring the searing pain starting up again in her leg.

The building was practically falling apart by the time they had gotten a safe distance away. The adjacent building, however, was untouched, and Twilight could just make out the outlines of other Autobots rushing from that building to the collapsing one.

_'It must be the work of a saboteur, but _**_who_**_?'_ Her answer came in the form of the Decepticon second in command.

_'No _**_way_**_... He made the whole brig fall in on itself... _**_Primus_**_...'_  
>She watched Cyclonus' optics search her for any injuries, almost immediately travelling down to her ankle. She knew Soundwave's optics were doing the same. Her internal repair systems had done all they could, but apparently this was a tricky wound to mend, because the repairs were already starting to falter.<p>

Trying to break the awkward silence that followed - Decepticons weren't usually ones for shows of gratitude or concern - she spoke.

"Thank you, all of you, for... saving me. I apologise for letting myself get into that mess in the first place, I didn't deserve to be rescued. But, if I may ask for one final thing," She left the sentence hanging, holding out her hand to Soundwave. He knew what she wanted.

Handing her his sonic cannon, she carefully aimed it at the Autobot base. More specifically, at where Ultra Magnus' energy signature was located, in one of the only rooms on the top floor of the untouched office building. Immense satisfaction filled her spark as she pulled the trigger and watched the window smash.

Not a moment later had that room gone up in flames. Handing Soundwave his cannon, she let out her haunting giggle, such a childish glee overwhelming her that she could hardly feel the pain in her leg.

Astrotrain transformed into his plane mode, letting the other Decepticons load up. Twilight, finally back to reality, just managed to hear Rumble finish his statement.

"Yeah, thanks a lot, bunny-ears! Y'almost offlined us!" She turned to see that he was talking to Cyclonus.

"_Bunny-ears_?" He shook his head in annoyance.

"Don't ask." Frenzy moved to sit beside the femme.

"Look, can ya see the 'semblance?" He asked, sending her a photo of an Earth creature called a 'bunny rabbit'. At first, she found nothing similar about the two, but then Rumble pointed out the 'ears' that stuck up in the same fashion as Cyclonus' audios. She giggled quietly, but stopped short when she saw the look the SIC was giving her.

"No resemblance. Nothing funny about that at _all._" She said quickly, fighting to keep in her laughter. She limped over to Soundwave, sitting beside him. Surprisingly, _he_ was the one to speak first.

"Upon arrival; Tend to injuries at med bay."

"I'll be-"

"Resistance; Futile."

"_Fine_." She huffed. If Soundwave ever let himself show any sort of emotion in front of his fellow Decepticons, he would've chuckled at how childish his friend was being. But he didn't allow himself to, so he did not.

* * *

><p>Cyclonus watched as Twilight made her way to the med bay. He wanted to distract her, outright knock her unconscious, drag her to her quarters and tend to the wound <em>himself<em> if need be, _anything_ to stop her from going to the Constructicons. Pit, even _he_ didn't like being at their mercy. Had she really forgotten about what had happened two weeks ago? Was she really going to chance something like that happening again?

As he tried to think of a way to stop her, he saw that he was too late, the door to the med bay closing behind her. Picking up his pace, he stood outside, feeling like an idiot, contemplating whether or not to go in. He wasn't supposed to have seen what had happened that night, so he would make a complete fool of himself if he went in there for no reason, and with nothing to say as a cover story.

Quickly fabricating an excuse, he entered the med bay. Twilight was lying on one of the repair berths, and Cyclonus wondered why in the Pit the Constructicons weren't acting like they had before. Had they _finally_ learnt their lesson?

It wasn't until he moved around did he see why. Twilight had made the smart decision to leave her claw blades deployed. She wasn't threatening them, it was as if she was in recharge, her optics were offlined, her face the very essence of calm.

"Cyclonus? What're you-" The SIC completely ignored Hook, turning to Twilight, whose optics had onlined at the sound of his name. It was obvious that Hook wasn't particularly pleased with the intrusion, but the purple jet couldn't care less.

"Twilight, Galvatron wants a report of what took place when you were kept prisoner at the Autobot base." She nodded. His excuse had worked. It would only be a matter of time before Galvatron really _did_ ask for such a thing, so it made sense. When he didn't leave, she spoke up, looking confused.

"..._Now_?" Cyclonus nodded, handing her a datapad from his subspace.

She sighed, but got to writing, sheathing her claw blades. Only when Hook said "Oh _Primus_..." did she look up from her half-written report. The tone of the medic's voice had caught Cyclonus' attention too.

"What? What is it? That didn't sound like a good 'Oh Primus'." Twilight said, immediately going into motormouth mode.

"_Is_ there a good way of saying 'Oh Primus'?" Scavenger replied, giving the femme a confused look.

"When I find one, I'll let you know." She growled back. Twilight turned her attention back to Hook.

"_Well_?" Cyclonus folded his arms across his chest plates, as eager for an answer as Twilight was herself.

"On the outside, it just looks like a broken ankle joint. On the inside, however, whatever weapon you were hit with has completely fried most of the circuits in your leg. The repairs your internal systems have performed didn't last long. If you ever want to walk again, I'll have to operate."

Cyclonus raised an optic ridge sceptically. What if this was just a dirty trick? He was pretty sure he was over-thinking things, but... If they were to operate, then she would be put into a medical stasis. If that were to happen, she wouldn't be in her right mind for a good couple of hours afterwards. If she wasn't in her right mind then they could-

"You're _kidding_, right?" Apparently Twilight was thinking on the same wave length as the Decepticon stood beside her, because she was giving the Constructicons the same doubtful look. Hook, however, was completely serious.

"Do I sound or look like I'm kidding? I can take the armour off and you can see for yourself if you don't believe me." The two stared each-other down for a moment before the femme finally gave in, sighing.

"Fine, just let me finish the damn report then you can get it over with." Hook nodded. Minutes later, she handed the datapad back to Cyclonus.

"There." He put the report in subspace, but once again, he didn't leave.

"Err... You can leave now, Cyclonus." The purple jet frowned. He didn't have another excuse, but he wasn't ready to leave Twilight in the hands of the Constructicons. Surprisingly, Long Haul sorted that one out for him.

"Actually, if it's not too much trouble for you, Cyclonus, we need someone to help her to her quarters after she's woken up, as she will be unstable for a while from the medication." The SIC nodded.

"...If that's alright with you, Twilight."

"That's fine with me, but I don't want to waste your time." He shook his head.

"Think nothing of it,"

_'After all... You did the same for me.'_ He spoke the last part of his sentence through a comm. link so the Constructicons didn't overhear. And there was that strange, crooked smile, caught halfway between a grin and her usual cocky smirk.

"Are you ready, Twilight?" Bonecrusher held up an injection. She shuddered slightly.

"Oh, I hate injections. Alright, lets get this over with." She nodded in confirmation, wincing ever so slightly as the sedative was injected into her main energon line.

Within moments, Twilight was offline to the world. She had a - if Cyclonus dared to think such a thing - peaceful look on her face. The jet watched as Hook revealed the femme's burnt out circuitry. Sparks flew as the medic sliced off the dead wires, attaching new ones. Cyclonus sat in the chair beside the repair berth. Anger coursed through him like a river. He'd make that mech _pay_ for touching her, no matter who it was.

* * *

><p>"Are you <em>sure<em> you'll be okay, Rodimus?"

"I'll be _fine_, Magnus. Get some recharge, you deserve it." Ultra Magnus nodded, leaving the med bay.

Rodimus Prime had got a nasty shock - as did he - when the Prime's quarters suddenly went up in flames. Magnus just knew that Twilight was responsible, and part of him couldn't blame her. After all, they'd kept her locked up for quite a while and he knew what she was like when someone or something pissed her off.

But part of him was still in denial. Denial of the fact that that beautiful, kind femme he had once known was now a Decepticon, a ruthless, sparkless, soulless killing machine. He remembered the days when they would do everything together, sometimes just sit and talk about nothing in particular. Where had he gone wrong?

Reaching his quarters, he looked out of the large window that pretty much took up a whole wall. He rested his head against it's cool surface. Sinking down into his chair, never leaving the support of the window, Magnus pulled out a datapad from his subspace. The mech flicked through the photos he had stored on it. Tears streamed down his face plates and onto the datapad's screen.

He had found the picture he was looking for. The one picture on this datapad that he would turn to whenever he felt lost.

"What happened... To us?"

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, how I <em>love<em> torturing the kind characters... XD. Hope you enjoyed, leave a review if you did, it means a lot!**

**************Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**************


	14. Recovery

**Sorry this took so long! I was going to upload this last night, but I didn't get a chance to because I was out. This was written whilst listening to Shoot to Thrill and Back in Black by AC/DC, and Judas by Lady Gaga. Thank you to _TheLoveDov_ and _Screamer's girl_ for your reviews! Alright then, on with the chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Cyclonus."<p>

That's all Hook said, but the mech knew what the medic wanted. Entering the recovery ward of the med bay, he saw Twilight, looking at him with hazy optics. She waved slightly, that crooked smile of hers reappearing. Long Haul walked up to the SIC.

"She'll be a bit disorientated, so don't be surprised if she says something unusual. The anaesthetic should wear off in about two hours, so you won't have to watch over her for long. If you're needed by Galvatron, just bring her back here."

He nodded, helping Twilight to her feet. She looked... _Ill._ It was the only way to put it. Her face-plates had been tinted a sickly pale colour, not the usual striking bright white. She slung an arm over his shoulders, and he gently placed one of his own around her waist.

They left the med bay. Cyclonus found the situation growing more awkward with each passing second. Why did the med bay have to be so slagging far away from her quarters? Not that he wasn't enjoying the closeness, of course. He tried to start a conversation, finally fed up with the silence that was hanging over them.

"Are you... okay?" She stayed silent for a moment, as if she didn't compute what he was saying.

"I... I don't really know..." He raised an optic ridge, the look on his face-plates asking her to go on.

_'If those fragging Constructicons have done _**_anything _**_to her I swear to Primus I'll...'_

"For starters, I just found out that Hook almost had to amputate my leg, and it's not like we have spare parts just lying around. Then I have to deal with the fact that I'm going to be off of the battlefield for a while, bored out of my processor, until this repair's sturdy enough. And now I'm stuck here." Cyclonus' spark clenched painfully. Did she really _hate_ him _that_ much? Was she really _that_ uncomfortable with his presence?

"...Twilight, I can call for Soundwave, I won't be offended if you want-"

"Oh! Primus, I didn't mean stuck here with you! I just meant stuck here, y'know... In this situation. I have nothing against you, Cyclonus, trust me." He nodded.

Inside, however, he was recovering from a minor panic attack. Galvatron had said that what he was feeling was love, and Cyclonus could definitely say that he more than agreed with his leader. But surely _this_ was taking it too far. He couldn't stop himself from being overly protective of the femme, and he had almost had a spark attack at the mere mention of her harbouring negative feelings towards him.

Yet Cyclonus had no idea how to tell her how he felt. He wanted her _so_ much, but he had no slagging _clue_ how to make her his. And that, he thought, was the most frustrating and pathetic thing of all. All of a sudden, Twilight tripped and nearly fell flat on her face-plates. Luckily, even when lost in his thoughts, Cyclonus' reflexes were cat-like. He caught her and set her back on her feet.

"That... Was embarrassing." She giggled.

"Well... Sorry about that. I'm still a little disorientated." He chuckled.

"It's fine."

"Are you sure Galvatron won't mind you doing this? He'll start to wonder where you are."

"I've already contacted him. He knows of the situation, it's fine."

"If you need to leave, once we get to my quarters, I'll be fine-"

"Twilight."

"Cyclonus, I don't want to waste your time-"

"Twilight."

"Just go, I'll be-"

"_Twilight!_" She stopped.

"...Yes?"

"Shut up. Galvatron knows where I am, he knows what happened, and he has the report you wrote out. Hook told me that that sedative's not going to wear off for another two hours, so you're stuck with me until then."

She relaxed slightly, leaning in to the taller mech a bit more. Cyclonus managed to fight off the blush threatening to creep over his face. He realised how easy it would probably be to turn the situation around. But he would never do such a thing to her. Nevertheless, many thoughts were racing through his processor, none too innocent.

_'Dammit mech! Just man up and tell her!'_

The mech hadn't even noticed that they'd reached Twilight's quarters until he heard the beeping of the control pad as she entered her passcode. She'd meant to warn him about the huge stack of datapads on the floor next to her berth, but by the time she remembered, it was too late. He stumbled over them whilst trying to help her lie down.

Before he could catch himself, Cyclonus had fallen on top of her, their faces now mere centimetres apart. They were silent for a moment, both staring into the other's optics. Twilight had never been close enough to Cyclonus to notice a scar running down from the bottom of his left audio receptor to the tip of his optic.

She was about to reach up and touch it, but as she thought about the action, she realised what had just happened - what was _still_ happening. The femme cleared her throat. Cyclonus hurriedly got off of her, standing at her side, his face the picture of embarrassment in Cybertronian form.

"Twilight, I didn't mean for that to happen, I just-"

"I know, it's fine. You tripped." Her breaths were slightly shaky. Unfortunately, he noticed. But he thought she was shaken up for a _completely_ different reason.

"Twilight... I would _never_-"

"I _know_ you wouldn't, Cyclonus." She left it at that, turning to look out the window. Cyclonus frowned inwardly. She hadn't been scared when the Constructicons had cornered her, was she... Intimidated by him? Surely not. He was almost certain that they'd be equals in battle.

If not that then... Why the fear? Cyclonus cursed himself for being so clumsy. It was a foreign word to the Decepticon, but it certainly defined how he had acted, for more than one reason.

If he had been paying attention to his surroundings, he would've noticed those damn datapads and stepped around them. And, if he hadn't been drawn into the vibrance of Twilight's optics so much, he would've been able to correct the situation much quicker. But _Primus_, they had been _so_ close, if he had just leaned down a little more...

But he didn't, and he had missed his chance. Cyclonus wondered how she would've reacted if he _had_ kissed her. Judging by her mood now, it probably wouldn't have ended very well. Now the jet was faced with an even bigger problem than before. He wanted her even more, and it now seemed like she would be even harder to claim.

The next couple of hours went by in silence. Twilight tried to ignore the faint tugging on her spark.

_'Talk to him...'_ A voice whispered.

_'_**_No. _**_You promised Soundwave that you wouldn't make any mistakes this time around. He's the only friend you have left, and he's all you need.'_

Another voice, harsher, and louder than before, made itself heard. This voice's command was harder to obey. It was as if Cyclonus' very spark was reaching out to her, without him knowing. After a couple more minutes, she resolved to go and see Soundwave later, he was usually the expert in... Well, anything really.

"...Twilight?" Luckily, Cyclonus made an effort to break the silence. It took her awhile, arguing inwardly about whether to reply or not.

"...Yes?" He wondered what she was going to say - more importantly, what she was going to _do_ - when he told her.

"I... I thi-"

_'CYCLONUS?' _The mech jumped slightly, making it evident to Twilight that whatever he was going to say would have to wait, as Galvatron was beckoning him. He looked at her apologetically, but she just waved it off, returning to the dull view of Chaar's black sky.

_'Yes, Mighty Galvatron?'_

_'I need you and Twilight to get to the throne room, now!'_

_'...But sire, Twilight has been put down on medical lea-'_

_'I don't _**_care_**_, Cyclonus! You two better start making your way here, and be quick about it!'_

_'Understood, Mighty Galvatron.'_ The mech sighed.

"Twilight?"

"Hm?" She turned once again.

"Galvatron wants us in the throne room." She sighed, trying to stand.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy. Don't strain that wound." She giggled.

"Honestly Cyclonus, I'm not going to collapse and offline right this second." He chuckled, but remained adamant that he supported her, incase she jarred her repairs in any way.

"...Thank you, for the concern, though." He fought off the blush once more, simply shaking his head. Slipping an arm around his shoulders, Twilight leant against the taller mech slightly. As she parted from his side to open the throne room's door, she held in a pained yell, barely managing to hold onto Cyclonus to prevent falling to her knees as some of the newly-repaired wires snapped.

"Slag, are you alright?" She nodded, but pain was still etched across her features.

"I knew you shouldn't have moved, let's go, I'll take you back." She shook her head.

"We're here now, there's no point." He nodded, a little reluctantly. The doors to the throne room slid open with a quiet hiss, and everybody that was present turned to the arriving Decepticons.

* * *

><p>Scourge pretended to cough in an attempt to hide his yell of surprise. What in the <em>Pit<em> was Cyclonus doing with Twilight? If they had just walked in together, then that would've been normal, but why the _slag_ did he have his arm around her? Whether it was intended or not, the scene looked too... For lack of a better word, _cute_. The two soldiers had caught the stares of the others. Pretending they hadn't, Cyclonus helped Twilight over to Galvatron.

"Oh slag. Look at them, the little fraggers are already conjuring up rumours." Twilight muttered, scowl pointed in the direction of the 'fraggers'. Cyclonus followed her gaze until he saw the Cassetticon twins chuckling madly, Frenzy with a datapad and stylus in hand.

"Apologies, Cyclonus. Whatever they say... It's my fault. I'll have a word with them later." He didn't get a chance to reply as Galvatron addressed them.

"Cyclonus! Twilight!" They stood to attention - well, Twilight did as much as she could leaning against the wall with her injured leg raised - facing their leader.

"There have been reports of recent Autobot activity on the planet of Thellion, I want you two to go and investigate!"

"But sire, Twilight-"

"Yes I _know_ of her condition, Cyclonus! It will be fine, now _go_!" The jet looked at Twilight apologetically. She just waved it off, once again, but as she tested out her leg, pain shot up her sensors. Gritting her dentals, she started to limp towards the med bay, intent on seeing just how much damage had already been done to the repairs.

* * *

><p>It was, thank Primus, alright. Only a few wires had snapped, and for once, they weren't vital ones. It was an easy fix, and the Constructicons were done in a couple of minutes. It would've been even quicker, however, had they not spoken.<p>

"_Primus_, femme, how many slagging _times_ did I tell you _not_ to strain your fragging leg?" Hook snapped.

"I even stressed it to Cyclonus!" Something clicked then, and Bonecrusher snickered.

"_Oh_, unless you were-"

"Don't finish that sentence if you want to keep your interface cord, Bonecrusher. Nothing happened between Cyclonus and I, get that into your thick processors!" Hook sighed.

"Well, I'm finished. Whatever did happen, don't do it again, or I'm not fixing it for you next time."

"Don't blame me, blame Galvatron." She muttered, limping out of the doorway.

* * *

><p>Cyclonus sat with Scourge in the control room, downloading files and reports on the planet designated Thellion.<p>

"What was that all about earlier?" The blue mech asked.

"What was _what_ all about earlier?" Scourge sighed at Cyclonus' ability to instantly become oblivious to a subject that didn't suit him.

"You _know_ what I'm talking about. With Twilight. Is there something going on between you? Did you fr-"

"Don't even _think_ about finishing that sentence, Scourge." Cyclonus growled. The winged mech knew when he had gone too far, fortunately, and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I get it. But you better be careful, Cyclonus. Rumours are spreading quickly about the scene you two made earlier. Damn, do you know how many mechs want a piece of that femme? Pretty much _everyone_, Cyc, apart from Mr Monotone and his midgets. Pit, I wouldn't even be surprised if Galvatron was tapping that, I know _I_ wou-" The SIC's growl was louder this time, more threatening.

"It's amazing how quickly those Pit-spawned twins manage to circulate their slag. I assure you, Scourge, nothing is 'going on' between Twilight and I. Besides, _we_ didn't make a scene, she needed assistance because of her broken leg, I assisted her. Everyone else in the room made a scene." Scourge sighed. He walked away, muttering.

"Yeah, I bet you 'assisted' her alright, in the ber-"

"_Primus_, Scourge! You'd think by now you'd know when to _stop_!" Cyclonus yelled, throwing a nearby datapad at the Sweep leader. It hit him straight on the head, and that was the moment that Twilight decided to limp in.

"Alright children, easy, easy. Calm down." She giggled. Scourge smiled at her awkwardly then left. Twilight picked up the datapad that Cyclonus had thrown.

"Did you just throw my report at him?" The purple mech sighed, taking the report from her and leaving it on the workspace.

"It's... a long story." She giggled.

"Alright then, are you ready to go?" Cyclonus nodded.

As the two soldiers flew out of Chaar's atmosphere and towards Thellion, Twilight couldn't help muttering,

"You know, this feels awfully familiar..."

* * *

><p><strong>I know, I know, Scourge is terribly OOC. I picture him as a bit of a joker in this story, so yeah, that's not the last of it unfortunately XD. Don't ask XD. Thank you all for reading, if you could leave a review it would be greatly appreciated! Oh, and Merry Christmas! (If it's still Christmas where ever you lovely readers are).<strong>

****************Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.****************


	15. Thellion

**I'm sorry this took so long! I went to visit my dad for a week and my laptop never connects to his Wi-Fi for some reason =/. Thanks to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing, and to _TFSTARFIRE_ for adding this to their favourite stories list! I also want to apologise to you,_ TheLoveDov_, because I kept lying to you about when I was going to have this up, it wouldn't work in the stupid library =/. So yeah, sorry about that. This was written whilst listening to Perchance to Dream, Over the Pass, North Country, Clair Voyant, Undying Faith and Day Becomes Night, all by Two Steps From Hell. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

* * *

><p>It turns out that the planet Thellion was a lot further away from Chaar than Drax had been. Twilight was struggling to keep going, and Cyclonus had noticed how weary she was.<p>

_'Twilight, _**_stop_**_. We'll rest for a moment, and carry on later.'_ He said, slowing down and transforming from his alt mode. She shook her head.

"No, it's fine. If we carry on going at this pace, I should be alright." He rolled his optics.

"Twilight, it's _not_ fine. _You're_ not fine. Now come on, we'll take a break on this planet's moon, and we'll be back on course in a couple of hours."

Surprisingly, she obediently made her way over to the nearby moon, landing on it's deep blue surface. He landed beside her, watching cautiously as she staggered around. Everything went blurry, and she struggled to stay standing. The same light-headed feeling she got from every flight was now ten times worse. Her whole body suddenly became heavy, and she could no longer hold herself up.

"Easy, Twilight, don't-" Cyclonus leaped forward, catching her head before it hit the ground as she fell to the floor. Before he could ask the obvious question, she weakly tried to reassure him.

"I-I'm fine, Cyclonus. Honestly I don't need to-" She was cut off as another bout of nausea washed over her.

"Slag! Twilight, Twilight!" She shook her head, giggling.

"I've had worse, Cyclonus, trust me." He frowned.

"This isn't _funny_, Twilight." He sat her up gently. She leant on a nearby rock, still out of breath and trying to stop the warnings that were racing through her processor.

"I get this every time I fly. This isn't unusual for me." She smirked slightly at the curious look on the SIC's face.

"...Neither is that look you're giving me."

"Care to explain?" And suddenly, the mood had shifted. With those three simple words, he had switched the atmosphere between them. She stiffened, not daring to meet his optics.

_'Just tell him... He already knows about Thundercracker, and he took that well.'_

_'_**_No_**_! He doesn't need to know any more about you, you've told him too much already!'_ The two conflicting voices from earlier that day came back. She flinched inwardly at the harsh tone of the sterner voice. Eventually she sighed, turning to him, but keeping her optics on the ground.

"My creators were drunk, the night they... Created me. They didn't want me, but they kept putting off getting an abortion until it was too late. They hated me, everything about me. Most of all, the fact that I wasn't a Seeker, like my so-called father. My mother still went out drinking even though she knew she was pregnant with me."

"That gave me this 'disability'. It's some sort of syndrome, though I can't remember the name of it. I _can_ fly, but doing so takes it's toll on my systems because of a few faulty components. But when my creators were finally ready to be rid of me, it was easy for them to do so. They had it all planned out." She saw the question forming on his face, and saved his breath.

"They pushed me off a cliff. My faulty flight tech didn't allow for me to regain altitude, so I just kept on falling. Even though they were insane, my creators were intelligent. Dangerously so. Their planning was meticulous. As soon as they found out about my disability, they hatched a scheme to be rid of me forever."

"Of course, I couldn't go without the years of abuse, that would've been a waste of their prey. So, after they'd had their fill, their little plan involving the cliff came into play." She turned to him, aware that she had said far too much than was probably necessary.

"Now let's go. We've wasted enough time here, and I'm fine now." He looked at her sceptically.

"Cross my spark and hope to offline." She smiled crookedly, crossing a finger over her spark chamber. He gave her an unsure, suspicious look. Finally, he gave in.

"_Fine_, let's get moving. The planet's not too far away anyway." He transformed, and they both took off.

* * *

><p>It took a couple of hours to get to Thellion, hours which were spent in silence. Cyclonus was keeping watch on the femme's health, whilst trying to compute just how fragged up her childhood had been.<p>

_'Her creators didn't want her, so they abused her for years, and then tried to dispose of her by pushing her off a cliff and watching her fall to her death - which they had _**_planned out _**_during the years of abuse... Somehow she survives all that, then gets beaten within an inch of her life by violent Autobots... Primus, that femme just asks for trouble... I think I remember Galvatron speaking of her disability when she was first stationed on Chaar...'_

There was the usual crackle as Twilight opened a comm. link with him.

**_'There it is Cyclonus. Thellion.'_** He looked up ahead with hidden optics, at the small purple and aqua orb that was the planet they had been ordered to inspect.

_**'Huh. Looks more inviting than **__Drax**, **__**at least**_**.'** He chuckled at her tone of voice. But she was right. The brown, barren, rocky outcroppings were all that was left of Drax when the Decepticons had arrived, and it was probably going to stay that way. There was a certain... _essence_ to this place that made it seem more welcoming... _safe_, even.

They entered the planet's atmosphere, carefully circling round to make sure there were no hostile life forms. Cyclonus transformed, coming to a halt beside Twilight. The femme looked worried, deep in thought.

"Scans show that there are no life forms on this planet. Nothing." He looked at her in disbelief. If Autobots were sent here, then surely there had to be _some_ form of life.

"Surely that cannot be possible." She didn't speak for a moment, visor flipping down.

"Look around you, Cyclonus. There are no buildings, no roads, no mech-made objects anywhere in sight. There is no life... And no battlefields." Despite it not actually being a request, he did as she said and looked around, until his optics finally returned to her face-plates.

"We shouldn't be here, Cyclonus. There are obviously no Autobots, this place is untouched. It has been for some time now, maybe even forever."

"...Are you _certain_ there are no life forms?"

"You tell me, Cyclonus. Scan the planet." He performed the most thorough scan on the entire planet's surface. Nothing. She was right.

His silence was the only answer he could give, and, thankfully, she accepted it. Turning to him, she repeated herself.

"We shouldn't be here, Cyclonus. This place has not been ravaged and ruined by war like other planets we know. We are ruining it's perfection by simply being here, in it's atmosphere." He stared at her. Blinking his optics, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Nowhere's perfect." She gave him that same, crooked smile. He started up his thrusters again.

"Now let's land, you need to rest." She rolled her optics playfully.

"You don't need to run medical scans on me every five seconds, Cyclonus. I can take care of myself." Despite saying that, she was grateful for his concern as they started their descent. She was hesitant, hovering uneasily above the midnight purple grass. Cyclonus landed, taking a few steps forward to scan and survey the area. Turning back to her, he pushed her shoulders down firmly so she touched ground.

"Nowhere's perfect." He repeated.

"Not anymore." She muttered. He sighed. She limped alongside him for a moment, until he stopped, looking around.

"This place is beautiful." She murmured, her voice mirroring his thoughts.

"Indeed it is... Say, Twilight, why don't we... take advantage of our stay here?" His words confused her, and she raised an optic ridge.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Galvatron's orders were to search the planet for any Autobot activity, which we are certain there is none of. He also told us that we were to stay here for exactly two days."  
>"...I have <em>no<em> idea what your point is, Cyclonus."

"My point _is_, Twilight, that you overwork yourself. We have no paperwork to do, either, so why don't you just... Relax for once? The data files show that there's a healing spring a couple of miles west from here, you could fix your leg."

"...You know what?" He winced, preparing for her to explode.

"Relaxation would be nice, I guess." He let out a sigh of relief. Her tone of voice suddenly changed as they walked - or, in Twilight's case, limped - towards the spring.

"I do _not_ overwork myself." He shook his head.

"Of _course_ you don't." She smirked.

"Shut it, Cyclonus."

* * *

><p>They reached the spring, and Twilight cautiously peered into it's depths. The water was crystal clear, you could see right to the bottom, which wasn't very deep down. She drew her optics away from it's stunning aquamarine surface to turn to Cyclonus and restart their playful argument.<p>

"For the record, you overwork yourself, too." He didn't reply at first, looking at her in surprise. He narrowed his optics.

"I do not."

"Yes you do. I _know_ you do. I took up your duties when you were on medical leave-"

"Proof that you overwork yourself."

"-so I know how much work you would usually do when you're not on missions. Proof that _you_ overwork _your_self." He shook his head, chuckling.

"Are we really arguing about this, _now_ of all times?"

She sighed, moving away from the spring to sit beside him on the same little cluster of golden brown boulders.

"You're right. Such a peaceful place... And we're bickering over the most childish things."

"I just don't get it, Cyclonus. You let yourself be used as Galvatron's personal punching bag, yet he calls upon you to do his dirty work - even give him advice from time to time. Where would he be without you? Where would the _Decepticons_ be without _you_?"

He turned slowly, staring at her for what seemed like hours. Eventually, he managed to speak.

"...The Decepticons would be _fine_. No doubt you would be in my position, if not Soundwave." She shook her head.

"Soundwave, maybe. But not me. Leadership isn't one of my strong points, despite having my own team back in Iacon. I could hardly take charge of _them_, let alone be second in command of the _entire_ _faction_." He shook his head back at her.

"Now, I don't believe _that_."

"It's true, the only reason my team followed me was because they were either frightened of me, or I'd saved their afts a couple of times in battle. Even then, Nightslash didn't like the fact that a femme was in charge." Twilight scowled.

"Didn't take long for _him_ to try and rebel."

"Nightslash?" Cyclonus didn't know who the mech was, but he wished he did, so he could beat the living slag out of him.

"Apologies, I forgot you've never heard of the insolent little glitch. Nightslash was my so-called lieutenant, but he wasn't exactly happy being under my command. Kind of like my own personal Starscream," She made a noise of disgust at the back of her throat cable.

"-because we _all_ need one of _those_. Anyway, one day he grew tired of me, and led the other soldiers in the group - all mechs - on a raid. I showed up after a tip off from an old acquaintance on their whereabouts, and when I finally arrive on the scene, they're all offline, save for Nightslash."

Cyclonus shook his head in disbelief. If it were possible, this mech sounded _even_ _more_ aggravating than Starscream.

"I taught him a lesson, but before we could escape, the Autobots finished him off." He noticed the way she said 'Autobots'. The word was spoken with so much hatred and anger that he was_sure_ she knew the particular Autobot responsible.

Yawning, she stood and stretched, moving to lay down on the cool, purple grass. She offlined her optics, resting her arms behind her head. Cyclonus watched her with soft optics, when something clicked suddenly in his mind.

_'Maybe it's time for that 'more direct approach' I was thinking about...'_

"The whole point of walking all the way over here was so you could fix your leg in that healing spring, remember?" She onlined a single optic lazily.

"Slag off, I'm _relaxing_." He shook his head, chuckling quietly.

"Come on." He said, standing and nudging her in the side.

"Frag you! You told me to relax, that's what I'm doing. You can fragging _carry_ me if you want me to go in there so badly." She growled, offlining her optic again.

_'And she fell for it...'_

"Alright then, you asked for it." She tilted her head, optics onlining, confused.

"Wha-?" Her question was cut off abruptly as she was lifted off of the ground by the purple mech, who chucked her over his shoulder.

"Ah! Frag, Cyclonus! I was joking! Put me down! Cyclonus you fragger, put me down _now_! I was just messing around! Frag it, Cyclonus! Put me-" Her rant was cut off as he dumped her into the spring.

She quickly came back up to the surface, water dripping from the ends of her horns, an extremely unamused expression on her face-plates. When she spoke, each word was punctuated with a growl.

"Frag. You." He chuckled.

"Leg feeling any better yet?" She carried on growling, not saying anything.

Suddenly, she lunged for him, grabbing his wrist and dragging him into the spring. A weird tingling sensation overwhelmed him, spreading throughout his form. Looking at his arm, he saw, to his surprise, old scars and war wounds healing up, disappearing from his frame.

He stayed underwater for a while, looking up at the sky, the green clouds now having an aquamarine tinge to them. He turned to Twilight, who had joined him under the water, and was now staring at her arms, where he knew the same process was effecting her too.

She then turned to look down at her leg, running a hand over it, astounded. Her fingers traced all the seams in her armour, and she wondered what in the _Pit_ was _in_ this water to make it work miracles like this.

_'Nature works in mysterious ways...' _The light from the planets two red suns filtered through the water, reflecting off of Twilight's brilliant black armour. Cyclonus wasn't sure just how long he had been staring for when an amused voice made itself apparent in his comm. link systems.

**_'You finished?'_** He stammered and stuttered, but could not make out an intelligible response. She laughed and then swam to the surface. He did the same, and they both climbed out of the spring.

She went back to her spot on the planet's purple surface, barely hearing the shuffling of the grass as Cyclonus lay beside her. They both stared up at the cloudy sky. They must've arrived in the late afternoon, because Thellion's twin suns were just starting to set, and it's twin moons starting to rise.

"Do you still think we should not have come here?" Cyclonus asked, turning to her. She shrugged.

"I guess not. I mean, look at the sunset. If no life was created here, then that means no living creature was supposed to see it's beauty." She stood slowly, visor flipping up.

He watched her, letting her words sink in.

"Then we are two lucky life forms." He stated with a smile. She sent that crooked smile his way, then offered a hand to him.

"I'm going to take a walk, you coming?" He nodded, taking her hand and pulling himself up.

* * *

><p>They strolled for what must surely have been hours, at a leisurely pace, before finally coming full circle and ending up where they had started, near the healing spring. Twilight lay back, arms resting behind her head, optics turned to the sky. She let out a soft, almost inaudible hum of content. Cyclonus watched her face-plates, unable to draw his optics away.<p>

He gazed at her as the moonlight shone on her armour. Then, for the first time since Cyclonus had met her, a genuine smile spread itself across her face-plates. He himself smiled at the sight, and he realised that he wanted to make her smile like that more often.

He wanted to wake up every morning to that smile, and he wanted it to be the last thing he saw each night as he slipped into recharge, Twilight doing the same in his arms. Oh, how he wished it could ever be possible. The smile slowly left his face-plates, and an almost crestfallen look took it's place. He turned his head up to the sky. Could it ever be possible? Sure, he loved her. He'd do anything for her.

Pit, _Galvatron himself_ had even given him permission to court her. But that question still remained. Was it even possible? Did she harbour the same feelings? Probably not. But, deep inside his spark, he could feel something. He _knew_ that she was the one. She was the only femme he wanted - would _ever_ want. And if he was rejected, then he would happily live alone forever.

He was _okay_ with that. Even if she found someone else. He'd be happy as long as she was. Sure, he probably make a few _harmless_ attempts at murdering the lucky fragger, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do that without putting Twilight through sparkbreak.

And that was not a risk he would ever be willing to take. He remembered their conversation in her quarters, when he had been about to confess. What would she have said? He was afraid to think. What would she have _done_? He could imagine her reaction. In his mind, it wasn't pretty. A swift punch to the face-plates, that's what he'd get. Then the laughter would arrive.

_"Ha! As if I would _**_ever _**_fall for you! You're in _**_way _**_over your head, mech! Go on, go run off to Galvatron's side, where you _**_belong_**_!"_ He sighed.

"Something bothering you, Cyclonus?" He turned to face the femme, realising that he had been expecting the harsh tone from the Twilight in his imagination.

Reality's Twilight's voice sounded soft, _concerned_, even. He didn't respond, simply staring into her optics. So vivid, so bright, so... _beautiful_.

"Hey, mech, you okay?" Now she definitely sounded concerned. He shook his head sharply, coming out of his trance with just enough time to mutter a "Yes, sorry." before she began to question him again. She raised an optic ridge.

_'Slag, she's not buying it.'_

"You sure? You look... Troubled."

"I-I'm fine, Twilight." She tilted her head slightly.

_'_**_Cyclonus _**_doesn't _**_stutter_**_.'_ He saw her face-plates contort into a frown. For some strange reason, he expected her to explode, yell at him, demand to know why in the Pit he was lying. It seemed he had forgotten that he wasn't talking to _Galvatron._ Instead of snapping and lashing out, his face-plates tinted a dark red and he had to look away as her hand gently touched his arm.

"Hey, I know we're Decepticons and everything, but we still have emotions. You don't have to tell me what's on your mind, if you want to keep it to yourself. But... I... I guess... Oh _Primus_... What I'm _trying_ to say is... If you do... Y'know... Want to talk... You can tell me... I won't tell anyone." He smiled, though he knew she couldn't see the action. Maybe he had been wrong.

_'Don't overreact, mech.'_ Her hand left his frame, and he immediately missed her warmth, her touch.

"Geez, I'm awful at this stuff." He let out an barely audible chuckle.

"No, you're not." He turned back to her, her face-plates glowing red.

"W-What?"

"You're not awful." She gave him a sheepish grin, scratching the back of her head.

"A-Ah... Thanks... I guess." As quickly as it appeared, the shy personality had disappeared, and Twilight regained control of her emotions.

"You... You don't mind if I tell you?" She gave him a look as if to say 'You being serious, mech?'.

"Cyclonus. Two words. Thundercracker. Parents." She deadpanned, rolling her optics. He chuckled slightly, but his expression suddenly became serious.

"I... I just don't get it..." She cocked her head to the side.

"Don't get what?" She asked, her voice soft, as if trying to help a confused youngling find the answer to a question in class.

"I don't get... You." She raised an optic ridge.

"Me? What don't you get?" She sat cross-legged, hands limp in her lap.

He knew he should have stopped, he was aware of the consequences this conversation would likely have. But he couldn't.

"Everything." Surprisingly, she didn't seem angry. She giggled slightly.

"Well, there has to be somewhere for you to start." He was shocked by her tone, by her attitude towards this whole situation he had placed her in. But he quickly recovered.

"You've been through so much... Yet you... You seem to act like it doesn't bother you at all..." She didn't answer for a while, looking up at the sky.

"Forgive me, I shouldn't have said anything." He tried to backtrack, all the while knowing that it was more than likely too late. She turned to him, intent on answering his question.

"I guess it's because it happened a long time ago. Sure, it all affected me when it first happened, but I've learned not to let things like that bother me anymore." He nodded, and she looked up at the sky once more, optics brightening as the crimson moons came to their highest point in the starry canvas they had been painted upon.

"...If you like, Cyclonus, I can explain. Anything at all. As much as I enjoy silence, your company is... Comforting." She suddenly realised what she had said, trying to think of a way to correct that horrible mess up. To her surprise - and relief - he didn't comment.

"Your story... Your past... Intrigues me. If it wouldn't be too much of a burden, it would be nice to know a little more about the femme that saved my life." She rolled her optics at his choice of words.

"Well then... Where to begin?"

* * *

><p><strong>I will go into more detail about the creators situation next chapter, sorry if it confused anyone =. Hope you enjoyed!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight and Nightslash.**


	16. Story

**Even though I kinda wanted to leave it on another one of my sucky cliffies, I decided I'd update another chapter, since I'm staying up as late as possible to make the most of my last full day off. I just had a minor panic attack when I tried to upload this and it said something about a '15 document limit', then I worked out what to do and felt like an idiot afterwards XD. Yeah... I'm a dumb fragger XD. Written whilst listening to Cyclonus' theme, Starscream's theme and Tidal Wave's theme from the TF Armada PS2 game (Never actually played it, but I like the score =P), and the TF:Prime opening theme by Brian Tyler. Thanks for reviewing,_ TheLoveDov_! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"I'd known Thundercracker my whole life, our creation days weren't far apart. We both attended the same pre-school as Skywarp, and he stayed with us after that. That's also where we met Soundwave. The four of us could never be found apart after those days. Thundercracker was the first to work out what had been happening at home, and he informed the others."<p>

"I knew they had wanted to say something to one of our teachers, or call the Sparkling Support Unit, but I knew I would be taken away forever if they did that, and I begged them not to. So the abuse continued, and the three of them soon became my 'rocks', the only things keeping me stable, the only things I had left to live for."

"They started to organise days out, going to the cinema, sleepovers, things like that so that I could get out of the house more often. My creators didn't want anyone to suspect anything, so they didn't keep me locked up. When we attended academy, we met Starscream. Back then he was kind, supportive, as much of a gentlemech as Soundwave and the others. I don't know what changed."

"Starscream was the one that found me, at the bottom of the cliff. He immediately contacted the others, and Skywarp teleported into my parents' quarters in our house, only to find a huge stack of papers and plans, even _diary entries_ talking about how long they had been waiting to get rid of me."

"When we all found out what he had found out, I remember Starscream asking why they hadn't just 'gotten rid of me straight away'. Looking back on it, it probably wasn't the right thing to say, but we had all been thinking it at the time."

"That's when Skywarp went back, managing to find news articles about my parents. Turns out, they were mass murderers. Always targeting sparklings and younglings, adopting them, abusing them for years, and then thinking of the most inventive ways of destroying them."

"When they realised it was too late for an abortion, they simply brushed me off as another 'specimen'. They had thought I was dead, after they'd disposed of me and severed the creator bond."

Cyclonus winced. Almost _no_ younglings survived the severance of their bond with their creators. He didn't make a sound however, and she continued.

"Oh, how _wrong_ they were. Not long after that, the war began. I had moved in with Thundercracker, and we had to say goodbye to Starscream and Skywarp as they left to join the Decepticons with their fathers."

"Soundwave joined them not long after, and that's when the Autobots started to search our town. We had been upstairs in our shared quarters when we heard them break in. It was the two violent ones, the ones I told you about before."

"They slaughtered Thundercracker's parents, right before our optics. They hadn't discovered us yet, and we hid in the bunker his father had built not long before his untimely demise. They found us, however, and tried to persuade us to join the Autobots. I started to yell at them, asking why they had murdered Heatwave and Skyla - who I had come to love as my own creators - so mercilessly if they were the ones that were fighting for the good of Cybertron."

"The larger of the two finally got fed up of my backchat. Skywarp's team of Decepticons drove the Autobots away, and our old friend found us and managed to teleport us to the hospital just in time. That's when me and Thunder joined the Decepticons."

"That was probably the best decision I have ever made. You see, Starscream - who I then found out was second in command of the whole fragging Decepticon army - managed to get a good word in with Megatron for us, and we soon became two of his most-trusted recruits. And _that's_ not even the best part."

That dangerous smirk appeared, and Cyclonus noted that he hadn't seen the expression in quite a while.

"You see, Thunder, Sky and 'Screamer got put together as a new trine of Seekers, Soundwave was put on communications, and I got given the job to try and recruit neutrals."

"In my opinion, I did a better fragging job than those two Autobots. To my utter delight, one day I found that the designations 'Rapidracer' and 'Sunstar' were on my recruitment list."

Cyclonus gave her a confused look. The smirk she was wearing practically radiated the word 'revenge' and his optics widened. She nodded.

"My dear old creators. Something had snapped, the day that I was tossed aside by them,"

"And when I saw their designations on my list, the madness that I'd been driving away for so long finally caught up to me, eating whatever femme I used to be alive. I'm not going to lie, I went insane for a while, but Thunder and the others brought me back to reality."

Cyclonus made sure to choose his words carefully.

"...And your creators?" She scoffed.

"Didn't think I was going to let them get away, did you? Although, now that I think about it, it would've been a fun game of cyber-cat and mouse."

She suddenly wondered whether this little confession was going to make the mech sitting beside her pin her down as crazy.

"...But it wasn't just me that gained satisfaction from their offlining, Cyclonus. I wasn't the first to be subjected to their torture, and I sure as Pit wouldn't have been the last, had I not stopped them." She offlined her optics.

"I know, you probably think I'm psychotic." He didn't compute what he was saying before the words left his vocaliser.

"Murderer or not... You saved youngling's lives by offlining the two of them, Twilight. You're not psychotic at all. At least... Not in my optics." Her optics onlined abruptly, and she sent him her crooked smile.

It was then that she noticed how tired he looked.

"Get some recharge, Cyclonus. Even though there aren't any life forms, Autobots could still find us. I'll keep watch."

"Twil-"

"I'm not arguing, Cyclonus. You need to rest more than I do." She knew that he knew she was lying. Even though they had rested on that moon, the journey to Thellion had left her exhausted, and apparently the planet's healing spring couldn't help her with her disability, nor the nausea and other sicknesses that came with it.

They had a brief stare down before the mech finally gave in.

"_Fine_. But if I wake up, I'll take over." She nodded.

"Deal." She watched as the mech tried to make himself comfortable on the ground.

It hadn't occured to her before, but now that she thought back on it, Twilight knew that there was more to this mech than she had first thought. Or, she thought, more to how she _felt_ about the mech. Ever since the tugging at her spark that she had felt when he had been near offlining on Drax, she knew that the mech had changed her, simply by being in her life.

Twilight cocked her head to the side thoughtfully for a moment. Thinking about the events of their time on that dirt-ball of a planet had her thinking about the conversation that had happened between the two Decepticons.

_"Don't speak, you'll only hurt yourself."_

_"N-no... I... I want you t-to know s-something..."_

What _had_ he wanted her to know? She had never remembered to ask him, and he hadn't remembered to tell her.

"Hey, Cyclonus?" The mech sat up, optics onlining quickly.

"What is it?"

"Do you remember... Back in the mines, on Drax," Cyclonus flinched at the mention of the dreaded planet's name, and Twilight instantly felt bad for bringing it up.

"You... You wanted to tell me something..." He looked thoughtful for a second.

"I did?" She nodded.

"But I told you not to speak. I was just wondering... If you remembered what you had wanted to say?"

The mech was confused. He remembered that conversation clearly, but as for what he had been about to say... He had nothing. Probably some idiotic, energon loss induced confession of his feelings for her, but he sure as the Pit wasn't telling her that _now_.

"Apologies, Twilight, I honestly cannot recall what I had wanted to say." She shook her head.

"It's fine, I shouldn't have brought it up. Get some rest, Cyclonus." He didn't say anything else, laying back down and offlining his optics. Twilight sighed.

_'Had I __**really **__expected him to remember?'_ The femme brought her knees up to her chest-plates, resting her forehead on them. She growled mentally.

_'The slag is wrong with you, femme? You've never acted like this before.'_ Suddenly, the softer of the two conflicting voices appeared in her mind.

_'You __**know **__what it is, you're just in denial.'_ Was she? She sighed. It was true. She _did_ know what was going on, and she was in denial. Or at least, until this moment, had been. She had fallen for Cyclonus. Head over heels.

She didn't know when exactly, all she knew was that at some point since her arrival at Chaar, the Decepticon second in command had stolen her spark. But she also knew that it would never work. It couldn't. He was second in command, for Primus' sake, his duties to Galvatron were far more important than anything to do with her. Besides, who in the Pit would love a femme like her? Certainly not someone like Cyclonus. She growled.

_'Pull yourself together! Everyone that's ever been close to you, you've lost. Thundercracker and Skywarp... even Starscream and the Autobot fool Magnus. There's only Soundwave and the cassettes left, and you sure as the Pit are not losing them! No, no-one's getting close to you again.'_

She turned her head to look at Cyclonus, lost in the bliss of recharge.

_'No, I am not letting someone get close to me, just to lose them in the end...'_

* * *

><p><strong>Man, even<em> I'm<em> annoyed at me because of how long it's taking me to get these two together XD. Hope you enjoyed! And Happy New Year! Oh, by the way, I was thinking of doing a prequel to this, but it all depends on if you guys want me to. I was thinking of putting a poll up on my page, but there's only a few of you that read this, so if you could just put in your review whether you would like me to do a prequel to this story or not, it would be appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Rapidracer, Sunstar, Heatwave and Skyla.**


	17. Core

**I'm on a roll! Been waiting to get these up all week! Written whilst listening to Flameheart, Love and Loss and Pax by Two Steps From Hell. Not much to say, so, on with the chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

**P.S. This chapter has a crap title... =/**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus awoke the next morning, sitting up and stretching with a yawn. He waited for his optics to adjust to the dim light Thellion's twin suns were giving out. It took him a moment to realise that he was <em>alone<em>. Twilight was nowhere in sight. Panic seized his spark and he stood up hurriedly. Looking around, there was no sign of the femme, or where she had gone. No footprints, no sign of a struggle.

"Ah, morning, Cyclonus." Relief flooded through the mech as Twilight walked up to him.

"Where have you been?" He didn't mean to use that tone of voice, as if he were a creator scolding his sparkling for running off. She raised an optic ridge.

"I went to scout the area, is there a problem with that?" He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No, sorry. I didn't mean to order you around." She smiled crookedly.

"No problem, you're... used to it, I guess. No offence." He shook his head.

"Non taken. I guess you're right."

_'CYCLONUS! TWILIGHT!'_ They both jumped slightly as Galvatron yelled through their comm. links.

_'Yes, Mighty Galvatron?'_

**_'Yes, sire?' _**They both looked to each-other and shrugged.

_'Well? What have you found on the planet Thellion?'_

_'No signs of any Autobot activity, sir. In fact, there's no sign of-'_ Twilight roughly elbowed the second in command, taking control of the conversation.

**_'No signs of life, sire. It's rather barren and useless. Makes Chaar seem inviting, actually.'_** Galvatron chuckled, before suddenly asking.

_'Twilight, where did Cyclonus go?'_ The femme looked to the SIC, who was glaring crimson daggers at her but not daring to speak, in case of another blow to his tanks.

**_'He fell... Down a hill, sire. It was quite funny, I regret not recording the scene for you. I shall have to try and make it happen again.'_ **She laughed, their leader laughing along with her. Cyclonus' expression was priceless, and he elbowed her back. This only increased the volume of her laughter, and he sighed, face-palming.

"Out of all the Decepticons I could be stuck with..." She pouted comically.

"Aww, Cyclonus, I know you love me really." He opened his mouth to agree with her, then realised just _what_ he was about to do. Instead, he simply rolled his optics, chuckling at her. Both soldiers, however, were completely alert when Galvatron spoke up again.

_'If the planet appears to be of no significance, destroy it and return to Chaar. I have actually planned another attack on an Autobot base in New Kaon, so the sooner you return the better. Dismissed.'_

Galvatron cut the comm. link before either of his subordinates could reply. Twilight abruptly left Cyclonus' side and began to walk to the top of a nearby hill. He simply watched her, unsure whether he should follow or give her some space. He left her there for a moment, before slowly walking up the hill and waiting behind her.

"I can't." She said simply. He knew what she was referring to, but he had to ask.

"You can't what?" Her hands balled into fists from where they were hanging limply at her sides.

"I cannot watch this planet's destruction. Such beauty, such... Tranquility and peace... I cannot watch it fall to ruins." She turned to him, but kept her optics to the sky.

"If you want to follow out his orders, I'm afraid you'll have to do it alone. I will not be a part of this." She stalked past him, lifting off into the air. Without thinking, he grabbed her ankle, halting her.

"Twilight..." But he had nothing to say. His grip loosened, and she flew into the distance.

* * *

><p>Twilight growled, landing on one of Thellion's moons.<p>

_'For Unicron's sake, femme! You're a Decepticon! You've watched the destruction of countless planets, the annihilation of countless races! What is your **problem**?'_

She ground her foot into the bright red, rocky surface of the moon. Not a moment later, she was flying again, heading back to Chaar. She contacted Cyclonus through a comm. link.

_**'I'll be waiting for you on that moon we stopped at yesterday. If you're going to do it, be quick about it.'**_

It was only when Thellion became a little purple and blue dot in the vast blackness of space did Twilight realise how tired she was. Since Cyclonus hadn't woken up during the night - Primus, that mech could probably recharge through an _earthquake_ - she hadn't recharged since the night before before being captured by the Autobots.

Primus, that felt so long ago. She hadn't even recovered properly from the flight _to_ Thellion. But she would return to Chaar and carry on her duties without complaint, as usual. Landing on that dark blue moon, she noted that Cyclonus had not yet replied to her message. Shrugging to herself, she sat down. She'd wait. She needed to rest anyway. But the moon's surface was a lot softer than it looked, and the femme had soon slipped into recharge, exhausted.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for Cyclonus to find Thellion's core. It was just as beautiful as the rest of the planet, a pool of water that looked identical to the healing spring, only bigger. Rightly so, the mech thought, this pool was fueling the whole planet. The mech sighed. Could he <em>really<em> destroy such a pure world?

_'Of course you can, you're a Decepticon for frag's sake! You've destroyed planets before, what makes this one so different?'_ But, in the back of his processor, Cyclonus knew that there _was_ something different about this planet. He just didn't know what.

_"Hello, Cyclonus."_

_"Ooh, my new self is lookin' pretty good if ya ask me, TC! Oh, that rhymed!"_ Two voices spoke up out of nowhere. Cyclonus readied his weapon, looking around frantically.

"Who's there? Show yourself, you cowards!" Surprisingly, the first voice answered him.

_"I... Or, well, unfortunately, **we**, are down here."_ Cyclonus looked down into the spring, only to find that he wasn't met with his reflection, but rather two mechs that didn't look at all like him. Two Seekers, one blue, red and white, the other black, purple and white.

"W-Who are you?" The black and purple one, the owner of the second, more childish voice, snickered.

_"Scared, Decepticon?"_

_"I wouldn't be surprised if he was, you **are** a horrifying sight. Pit, even **Twilight** hid behind me when we first met you."_ Cyclonus raised an optic ridge.

"Hold on a second, what do you two know about Twilight?" The blue one turned to him again.

_"Apologies, Cyclonus, when you've lived your whole life with this mech and then find out you have the eternity of an afterlife stuck with him as well, he can become quite distracting. Anyway, my designation is Thundercracker. This here is Skywarp."_ Cyclonus dropped his blaster, unable to get his head around what was going on.

"S-Skywarp and Thundercracker?"

* * *

><p><strong>8D. Couldn't resist! They are TOO <em>AWESOME<em>. I wasn't waiting until the prequel (which may not even be written) to write them into this. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	18. Spirits

**Guess who's a happy bunny? _ME_. Guess why? Because I _finally_ have Twilight's bio up on DeviantArt! As well as Nightslash's and Rapidracer's. So fraggin' glad I got those up! Anyway, I figured I'd put this up tonight, since I'm in such a good mood. Written whilst listening to The Death of Optimus Prime (Always makes me cry ='[), Megatron Must Be Stopped, and Escape, all by Vince DiCola for the 1986 G1 movie (when Cyclonus was first brought into the series 8D). Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p><em>"S-Skywarp and Thundercracker?"<em>

* * *

><p>The two mechs nodded.<p>

"But... _how_?" Skywarp opened his mouth to speak, but Thundercracker either knew what he was going to say, or was worried about _what_ he was going to say, because he promptly held out a hand to silence his friend. The blue mech rolled his optics and answered.

_"We're not entirely sure ourselves. Apparently Thellion's core is a sort of communications portal between the Well of All Sparks and the real world. We're just spirits, see?" _Cyclonus nodded slowly, still slightly confused. And 'confused' wasn't a word the Decepticon second in command liked to associate with himself. Thundercracker continued.

_"Thellion is an almost unknown planet, but you and Sister aren't the first to come here."_ It took Cyclonus a moment to realise that the Seeker was referring to Twilight as 'Sister'.

_"You probably won't be the last, either, unless you comply with Galvatron's demand."_ Cyclonus frowned.

"Can you read minds or something, Decepticon?" Thundercracker frowned back.

_"My designation is _**_Thundercracker_**_. I would appreciate it if you addressed me with the same respect that I address you with, Cyclonus. And no, I cannot read minds, but this planet's core can see everything that goes on upon the surface."_ Cyclonus stared, unsure whether to be embarrassed, or to just follow his orders and destroy the damn planet already. Skywarp, as much of an airhead as he sometimes was, noticed the look on the purple jet's face.

_"Yeah, that's right, we saw ya gettin' cosy with our Sis!"_ Skywarp let out a roar of laughter as Cyclonus' face-plates tinted a dark red. Thundercracker smiled, but his expression soon grew serious once more.

_"Stop it, Skywarp. We've wandered off topic."_ Cyclonus nodded in agreement.

_"It seems that the living can summon the offline if they look into this pool and ask to see them. But it also appears to work if an offline being is mentioned on the surface. You see, Thellion's core gets extra energy from emotions. When Sister mentioned us, her emotions gave the planet enough expendable energy to bring us here."_

_"Hey, Cyc-o, you best be treatin' Sis right, or I'll be straight on your aft, makin' ya pay."_ Skywarp suddenly threatened, voice turning serious, but that childish glint in his optics never leaving.

"What _are_ you talking about?" Thundercracker turned to Skywarp after sending Cyclonus an apologetic look.

_"Shut your trap, Skywarp!"_ Skywarp looked at Cyclonus, then back at Thundercracker, confused.

_"What? I thought they were an item!"_ Cyclonus blushed, and Thundercracker hit the other Seeker round the head, finally fed up with him. The blue mech then turned to the Decepticon SIC as he spoke up.

"So... You two _are_ offline then..." Thundercracker nodded.

_"Even though our bodies were reformatted, not destroyed, our souls left our frames and were transferred into the Well of All Sparks to make room for yours and Scourge's."_ Cyclonus cocked his head to the side.

"_You_ know Scourge?" Thundercracker nodded.

"I am his former self, after all." The purple mech turned to Skywarp, disbelief written over his face-plates.

_'Did I _**_really _**_used to be _**_him_**_?' _The blue Seeker's voice brought Cyclonus out of his musings.

_"Us spirits know more about what's going on in the real world than the living think, Cyclonus. Whilst this is one of the only places the offline can communicate with the online in the universe, there are many places in the Well of All Sparks that can transport us to the world of the living. The only catch is, the online cannot sense our presence when we visit." _Cyclonus managed to put two and two together when he noticed the sadness in Thundercracker's tone.

"Twilight..." They both nodded.

_"We go and see her often, to make sure she's holding up alright."_ For the first time since Cyclonus had met the mech, Skywarp's voice was sincere as he spoke.

_"In all honesty, Sis... Cares about you. You must mean a lot to her if she was willing to tell you about her past."_ Shock took over Thundercracker's expression.

_"Sister... Told you about..."_ Cyclonus nodded.

"You didn't know?" The blue Seeker shook his head.

_"Skywarp arrived here before me. I had jobs to do." _Cyclonus didn't question why the mech would have 'jobs to do' in the Well of All Sparks.

_"By the time I got here, you had arrived." _Skywarp and Thundercracker shared a look. A look that Cyclonus somehow knew only the two Seekers, Twilight and Soundwave would be able to understand. Then suddenly he was met with two pairs of crimson optics, that indescribable look turned on him. The black and purple seeker nudged his trine member in his side. Thundercracker sighed.

_"We know... How you feel... About Sister."_ Cyclonus dropped his blaster in surprise. Face-plates burning a deep red, he tried to speak.

"H-how in the Pit-"

_"Remember I told you that the planet extracts extra energy from emotions on it's surface? Well..." _The purple jet staring down at them cut the blue Seeker off.

"You don't need to explain. I understand." Cyclonus didn't understand why, but he felt like he needed to gain the two mechs' approval.

_"Cyclonus... She's happy, when she's around you. Happier than she's ever been since we... Well... She's happy with Soundwave, too, but it's a different sort of happiness. Her spark shines in a different light when you're with her. Please, continue to make her happy. Succeed where the two of us didn't. Give her a happy life." _Skywarp smiled at his reformatted form.

_"She deserves it. And, whether you believe so or not, so do you."_

"Thank you, Skywarp. Thank you, Thundercracker." It was Thundercracker's turn to smile.

_"No problem, Cyclonus." _The second in command of the Decepticon army picked up his blaster, having completely forgotten about his Lord's demand. A thought struck him out of nowhere, and, before he could stop himself, the question came out of his vocaliser.

"Shouldn't Starscream have been summoned? She mentioned him as well." He regretted asking when the two Seekers visibly flinched at the mention of their old-friend-turned-traitor.

"Apologies, I shouldn't have-" Skywarp shook his head.

_"Don't worry about it. The fragger's-"_ Thundercracker shot the mech a look, shutting him up.

_"_**_Starscream _**_isn't offline."_ Cyclonus leaned forward, confused.

"What do you mean? I saw Galvatron offline him with my own optics!" And there was that unreadable expression once more, that look. Shortly after, Thundercracker sighed and looked down at the floor.

_"Well, if he is, he's not in the Well of All Sparks."_

"Are you certain?" Skywarp shrugged.

_"It's like you said. He wasn't summoned here, and, as much of an aft as he's become, he wouldn't miss an opportunity to see Twilight." _Thundercracker suddenly looked up from the floor.

_"That's another thing. The living cannot sense us, but we can sense the presence of fellow spirits. And not once whilst visiting Twilight have we ever sensed Starscream. If he _**_is _**_offline, he'd visit her." _Cyclonus raised an optic ridge.

"How can you be so sure? Forgive me for saying this so bluntly, but, you were also two of his oldest friends, and he didn't think twice about abandoning you." To his surprise, the two spirits didn't look at all fazed by his harsh words.

_"_**_True_**_, but he was always different around Sis. He changed a lot after becoming second in command, but whenever he was around her, he was his old self. Quite strange, really."_ Thundercracker nodded.

_"She wasn't there, that day. She had already been sent to Iacon with her team. Maybe if she had been..."_ He shook his head.

_"No, no regrets. You're here in our place, and she's fine. Sister's perfectly happy."_ Skywarp, being a spirit, didn't speak through a comm. link, he spoke to Cyclonus' spark, but the message reached the mech loud and clear.

_~He thinks it's his fault. Twilight... Wasn't the same after we left.~_

_~It's not my place to say what happened to her, but TC feels like it's his fault that she went through all that. He promised her a life of happiness, of freedom. He thinks it's all his doing that she's... Like this.~_ Cyclonus stared.

**~What do you mean, like this?~**

_~She's... not the femme she once was. But not to worry, you've made her happy again. TC reckons you and Soundwave are our last hope.~_ Cyclonus chanced a glance at the blue Seeker, who had resumed his stare down session with the floor.

There was such a spark-wrenching sadness in his optics. He was a mech that had lost all hope. He had been torn away from the femme he loved, whether it had been a brotherly love or not. Twilight didn't look like that, not when she was with him. Is that what they meant? That she acted happy around him, but, when they 'visited' her in her quarters, she looked like this?

**~What if... What if it's all just an act? What if she only **_**pretends **_**to be happy around me?~** Skywarp rolled his optics.

_~She doesn't have a reason to do that. She's genuinely happy with you, Cyc-o. Trust us. If you don't trust me, at least trust TC. Oh, that rhymes too!~ _Thundercracker looked up in time to see Cyclonus send Skywarp - who was laughing wildly - an incredulous look, then roll his optics at the mech.

_"Whatever you're doing, 'Warp, cut it out. Don't frag up his spark."_ Skywarp sent the other Seeker a smirk. Thundercracker realised what his 'brother' was going to say before he'd even opened his mouth.

_"Don't say it-"_

_"Don't worry, TC, I'll leave that to Twilight!" _Cyclonus blushed a deep red once more, and the blue Seeker yelled,

_"Dammit Skywarp, stop it!"_

"Well, it was... Nice to finally meet you, Thundercracker. Err... Goodbye, Skywarp." Skywarp was still laughing at his own remark when he suddenly called out to Cyclonus' retreating form.

_"Bye, reincarnated version of me who wants to frag my sister!"_ Despite how utterly _wrong_ the comment sounded, it merely sent the mech into another fit of laughter.

_"Please ignore him, Cyclonus. He has a few screws loose. Oh, and one more thing?" _The purple mech got rid of that irritating blush and turned around to see Skywarp's spirit fade away, back to the Well of All Sparks.

"Yes?" Thundercracker's optics filled with that unimaginable sadness, and he knew whatever the mech was about to say was going to cause him great pain.

_"As much as you want to tell Twilight about this, you can't. She - As self-righteous as it sounds - wouldn't be willing to let go. She has done so now, and there's no need to reopen old wounds."_ Cyclonus nodded.

"May _I_ ask something of _you_, Thundercracker?" The blue mech's optics shone with confusion, then he smiled.

_"If your request is possible for me to fulfil as a spirit, I'll try my best."_ The purple Decepticon nodded in thanks.

"Just... Just please, continue to watch over her. I... I fear that she may not be the tough, sparkless warrior she tries to come across as." Thundercracker's smile grew wider, sincere.

_"Neither are _**_you_**_, Cyclonus. I will watch over Sister, you have my word. And please, do not be afraid to tell her how you feel. She may accept the news in a better manner than you think."_ Cyclonus looked to his blaster, unsure whether he would be able to complete his task this time around.

"Whether she is happy around me or not, she could never love a mech like me." Thundercracker watched the mech get a safe distance away from the core of Thellion.

_'Oh, but she _**_does_**_, Cyclonus. More than you know.'_

* * *

><p><strong><em>'I'll meet you on the moon we stopped at earlier. If you're going to do it, be quick about it.'<em>**

Cyclonus transformed from his alt mode as he touched ground on the familiar, deep blue surface of the moon. He soon found Twilight, lying face down on the ground. Panic once again seized him as he ran over to her form, footsteps quiet and cautious in case possible assailants were still around. Relief eased his spark as he heard her breathing softly, and he knelt down beside her.

_'She's just in recharge, would you please calm yourself down, mech?'_ She shifted, and he thought she was waking up, but all she did was roll onto her side, facing him. He'd seen her in stasis not too long ago, but the Constructicons' presence had prevented him from marvelling at her beauty. Now he was free to do so, no matter how wrong and strange it might seem.

He was unsure whether he should wake her, or just pick her up and try flying back to Chaar without disturbing her. But he decided that he didn't want to see her reaction to being carried back to base whilst recharging - no matter how well-needed it may be - so he gently shook her shoulder.

"Twilight, wake up." Her optics onlined immediately, and she shot up with such force that Cyclonus was sure that if he had leaned in any closer, she would've knocked him out.

"Cyclonus? Slag, how long have I been out for?" He shook his head.

"I have only just returned, I don't know." Her optics dimmed, and she stood in silence for a moment.

"So... Thellion's gone." It was more of a statement than a question, and Cyclonus didn't reply. They took off without a word, until Twilight suddenly contacted him.

_**'Hey, Cyclonus... I... I didn't say anything when you saw me in recharge, did I?'**_ Cyclonus turned hidden optics to the femme, only to see a faint blush rise on her face-plates.

_'No, why?'_

**_'Never mind, just a dream I was having.'_** The blush deepened slightly for a second before she reigned herself in again and it was gone.

Cyclonus wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, or why Twilight had blushed, but he didn't really care. The words he had exchanged with Thundercracker and Skywarp kept ringing through his head. In the end, he had to repeat himself.

_'Stop it, mech. No matter how happy she is around you, she could never love a mech like you.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Goddammit it's taking so fragging <em>LONG<em>! The author side of me is like 'calm down, it's your fault it's taking so many chapters' but the fangirl side is like 'GODDAMMIT CYCLONUS JUST CONFESS ALREADY!' So yeah, fangirl's going back in her cage now... I'm so WEIRD. Anyway, last one from me tonight, won't have any up tomorrow unless I'm lucky, because we have this family get-together every Tuesday with my step-dad's side, and I can't get out of it B(. Some of this was slightly out of character, I admit. The links to the character bio's are on my profile if you want to take a look. Hope you enjoyed!**

******Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.******


	19. Sparklings

**Right, for some strange-absolutely-fragging-stupid reason, the links didn't work, so I have re-uploaded them. You should be able to use the links on my profile and see Twilight's, Rapidracer's and Nightslash's bios now (there are very slight spoilers). Thank you to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing, and thank you to _NiceBeans_ for reviewing in an e-mail because you couldn't log in. Written whilst listening to In the End, Lying From You, Pushing Me Away and Hands Held High by Linkin Park. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Why had this happened? She didn't know.<p>

Why _her_ city? It was anyone's guess.

Why hadn't she been offlined yet? Her questions hung in the atmosphere as the youngling took in her surroundings.

She'd heard about these beings, Decepticons, how horrible they were, but her creators had never told her how much destruction they could cause. How much damage, how much... _Death_. She was only six years of age, she had no place in this war. And yet her peaceful home in New Kaon had been destroyed, and she had been separated from her mother. Her father had been offlined trying to protect them, and the youngling wiped her tears away at the thought of it.

She heard footsteps coming her way, and hurriedly tried to lift the huge metal plank that had fallen on her ankle. But she couldn't get it to budge. The footsteps were coming closer, and she was helpless. Her bright purple optics filtered through the sea of wreckage around her, but she could see no survivors, and no Decepticons.

There was a loud _**clang!**_ as if someone had knocked something over, and the youngling looked around frantically once more. She turned to look behind her, but there was no-one in sight.

Looking back to her trapped ankle, she let out a scream. A Decepticon had crept up without her hearing. The monster was crouched on the floor, face turned downwards. It soon stood to it's full height, and the youngling noticed that it was a femme. Primus, this one was _tall. _Then again, they all were compared to her.

Black armour covered the femme's frame, with sharp, jagged red markings. That horrible purple insignia was branded on her neck, and bright crimson optics, protected by a visor, were narrowed in what appeared to be a frown. Though the youngling couldn't be sure, because a black mask was covering the femme's face-plates.

It soon snapped back, however, and the little femme flinched at the sound, so terrifyingly loud despite the noise of the explosions from the battle raging on around them. The youngling's expression turned to one of curiosity as the Decepticon's optics flickered down towards her injured ankle, then to unmasked horror as the femme brought an arm up into the air, revealing energon-stained claw blades that the youngling hadn't noticed before.

In one swift, quite graceful movement, the Decepticon femme had swung her arm down, claw blades almost effortlessly slicing through metal with a screech. The youngling heard the sound, but did not feel any pain. Hesitantly onlining her optics, she saw that the Decepticon had cut through the metal plank, _not_ her frame. Had the monster _missed_?

Or... Had she been trying to _help_? As the little femme took in the larger femme's appearance once more, she noticed that this Decepticon didn't look like a monster. She was actually quite pretty. But the youngling was soon trying to back away when the femme took a step towards her. She froze, however, as the Decepticon spoke.

"Calm yourself, youngling. I will not harm you." The voice was so soft, so... Sincere, the little sky blue femme couldn't doubt her. She spoke back.

"Why... Haven't you offlined me?" The Decepticon smiled slightly. She actually _smiled_ at her.

"I would never murder a sparkling. Even Decepticons have their morals." The black and red femme paused as she looked into the sky, optics briefly following a purple mech with a crown like feature on his head.

He appeared to be the leader, and he transformed and took a shot at one of the buildings, not far from the youngling's own home. No doubt with a family still inside.

"Well... _Some of us_ do. Let me take a look at that." The Decepticon motioned towards the little femme's injured ankle. When the youngling didn't make a move, the femme sighed.

"I will not hurt you, little one. I give you my word." The claw blades disappeared back into the black armour of the Decepticon's hands. She then reached out, gently holding the young femme's ankle and examining it.

"I-It hurts."

"I know. Broken ankle joint, huh? I know what that's like. Well, your internal repair systems should fix that up in no time, sometimes it looks worse than it is."

_'Yeah, and sometimes it's a lot __**worse **__than it __**looks**__. 'If you ever want to walk again, I'm going to have to operate.' Remember __**that**__?'_ The femme sighed, looking around. The youngling let out a yelp as she was lifted off the ground.

"Ssh! You'll blow my cover! I could get executed for this! My leader would deem this as treason!" She may have only been six, but the youngling knew what treason was. She didn't speak again until they were a safe distance away from that purple mech with the crown and the orange cannon.

"What's your designation? Mine's Starlight." The sky blue youngling wrapped her arms around the femme's neck and her legs around her waist.

"Twilight." She responded simply. The femme's purple optics brightened.

"Cool! Our names are quite similar!" Twilight couldn't help but chuckle.

"So, why are you a Decepticon?" Twilight froze for a moment, before turning down another ruined alleyway, shaking her head.

"That's not a story I can tell you, little one. When you're older, maybe you'll understand." Starlight huffed.

"Okay. Where are we going?"

"I'm following the energy signatures of a few Autobots. They'll be able to keep you safe, maybe find your creators." The little femme suddenly looked down, optics becoming teary.

"Momma, maybe... But... Daddy's gone..." Twilight sighed.

"I'm... sorry to hear that. But have faith, young one. Your mother may still be online." Starlight buried her head into the crook of Twilight's neck and cried. The action almost brought tears to the Decepticon's optics. _Almost_. Instead, she tightened her hold on the youngling and carried on walking.

"Come now, young one. I'm sure your father was a brave soldier, he must have fought right until his end. He didn't deserve to be struck down, but at least he went down fighting. At least he went down... Like a hero." Starlight looked up, awe filling her optics as she stared at the sparkless _killing_ machine that had just _saved_ her _life_.

"What about _your_ creators?" The tall femme stiffened.

"Offline. They... They didn't love me like yours love you."

"Oh, that's sad. You're such a lovely person, too." Twilight shook her head.

"I'm not always... 'lovely'." The femme's purple optics brightened and she started to trace the pattern on one of the taller femme's horn like audios, completely ignoring her words.

"And you're pretty! Do you have a spark-mate? Do you have any sparklings?" Once again, the Decepticon stood as stiff as the metal plank she had cut through earlier.

_'Primus, this femme could give that Autobot Blurr a run for his credits.'_

"No... I did have four... _Five_ brothers. Only two of them are still online, and I do not speak to one of them anymore." The Decepticon warrior stopped for a while, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the Autobot energy signature she had honed in on.

"Here we are. There's an Autobot in this building, they'll be able to help you."

"But won't they try and hurt you?" Twilight scoffed.

"And risk hitting _you_? Not a chance. I'll be fine, little one, don't you worry." Twilight gently pried open the warehouse's door, and peered inside. She was soon met with a female voice, and a femme that had the same sky blue armour as Starlight.

"W-Who's there?" That's when Twilight stepped into the light and became visible to the femme.

"S-Starlight?" The youngling's head snapped up at the sound of her designation being called.

"Momma!" Twilight set Starlight down and the youngling limped into her mother's arms. Starlight's creator then focused on Twilight, and her pale pink optics found the Decepticon insignia.

"You... You _saved_ her... _Why_? Why would you do that?" Twilight ignored the question.

"Starlight has suffered a broken ankle. It's not serious, her repair systems should fix it just fine, but if I were you, I'd take her to a medic just in case. It looks a lot worse than it is." Twilight turned to leave, when the femme stopped her.

"Wait! You... You're a Decepticon... Yet you saved my daughter's life... But... You Decepticons live to kill..." Twilight laughed, though the sound was cold and humorless.

"If I lived to kill, both you and Starlight would be offline by now. Not all Decepticons are the same. But none of them are like me, so do not push any boundaries." Once again, she tried to leave, but was stopped.

"My sparkmate... He... He was offlined. I... I don't know where to go from here, I don't want Starlight to offline. _I_ don't want to offline." Twilight paused.

_'Dammit, femme! You're a __**Decepticon**__!'_

"I cannot take you any further. Another Decepticon would surely notice me and I'd be executed for treason. But do not worry, Ultra Magnus' team will be coming to your aid shortly."

"H-How do you know?"

_'Because he fragging __**stalks **__me.'_

"Because I've just unmasked my energy signature, and his own is moving toward us."

_'What are you __**doing**__? Are you fragging __**mental**__? What if he captures you again?'_

"What if he attacks you?"

_'Is she...__**Worried **__about me?'_

"I'll be gone by the time he breaks down the door." A thought struck the 'sparkless killing machine' then, and she couldn't stop the words from rolling off of her glossa.

"Your sparkmate... What did he look like?" The sky blue femme sighed, shifting Starlight, who had slipped into recharge.

"He was quite a tall mech, lean, a flier. But the most distinctive thing about him was his feet. They were split, like he had two feet at the end of each leg. Starlight... She has his optics. Why... Why do you want to know?" Twilight sighed.

_'Stop while you can, femme. Don't say it-'_

"I'll go out onto the battlefield and look for him. He had - _has_ - a family that cares about him, and he deserves a proper burial." The blue femme was silent, tears streaming down her face-plates.

"You... Would do that? What _are_ you? You _say_ you're a Decepticon, yet you hardly act like one." Twilight turned back to the femme for what she assured herself would be the last time.

"I _am_ a Decepticon. But I am a Decepticon that knows what it feels like to lose someone dear to you. I know what it feels like to go through sparkbreak. You have Starlight, so your pain has lessened. The only person I had left was too far away to make a difference."

"I had no-one. And I'm not going to stand here and watch another family be torn apart like this. I will try my best to find him, you have my word." And with that, she turned and opened the door. She only got one foot out before the femme stopped her again.

_'Primus, I'm about to go against all that I said and offline you myself!'_

"Please, at least leave me with your designation. Mine is Blizzard. His... His designation was Silverblade. And of course, you know Starlight."

"Twilight." She said, before stepping out of the door, shutting it behind her. Starlight stirred in her mother's arms.

"Momma... Huh? Where's Twilight?" Blizzard paused, staring at the door the femme had left through.

"She's... She's gone to pick up daddy. She's bringing him home, so we can say a proper goodbye." Starlight, processor still fuzzy from recharge, smiled.

"She's nice. She's not a Decepticon. Decepticons are monsters, she's not." Blizzard smiled down at her daughter.

"You're right, sweetie. She's not."

* * *

><p>As Twilight left Blizzard and Starlight behind, not stopping once to look back at the warehouse she had left them in, she failed to notice a pair of ruby optics belonging to a certain purple Decepticon, a pair of optics that had been following her during the whole battle. A pair of optics that were following her <em>now<em>.

* * *

><p><strong>Dun dun dun DUNNNN! XD. I kinda wanted to show Twilight's softer side for once, and, considering Soundwave has mentioned the fact that sparklings are her 'weakness', I reckoned I'd use that idea. Besides, I love Starlight, she's such a little cutie =). I still want your opinions on a prequel, so far I have two people who say yes (<em>XmidnightXeclipseX<em> and_NiceBeans_), so please PM me or leave a review if you have the time! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Blizzard, Starlight and Silverblade.**


	20. Silverblade

**Thought I'd put this up tonight, since I didn't put any up last night. Written whilst listening to Loverboy, Bite My Tongue, Kiss and Tell, Underdog and Liquid Confidence by You Me At Six (who I'm going to see in April with _XmidnightXeclipseX_!). Thanks to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>She'd found him. Silverblade. It was just as Blizzard had said, the unusual feet were a giveaway. What Twilight <em>hadn't<em> expected to find, were three punctures, right through his chest armour and into his spark.

"Oh _Primus_... What have I _done_? It was _me_..." She was kneeling beside the offline mech's frame, hand placed over the fatal wounds _she_ had inflicted. Why hadn't Blizzard or Starlight seen her? Had she moved too fast? Or had they been too far away? Either way, they'd never forgive her.

_'They don't __**need **__to, you're never going to see them again, and you're not going to ask for forgiveness. You're just going to drop the body off, and leave.'_

"Twilight!"

"Slag." The femme growled. She hadn't masked her energy signature again, and Magnus had found her. But he was _alone_.

"Leave me, Autobot. I'm not wasting my energy taking you down now." He frowned.

She _wasn't_ going to attack? She stood abruptly, picking up the body of the mech she had just offlined. He knew it was probably useless to try and guilt trip her, but he was an Autobot first and foremost.

"That mech probably had a family, Twilight! A spark-mate, a sparkling! Or maybe a friend that had been looking for him for _years_, only to find out the mech they had been searching for is now_gone_!"

_'What am I __**saying**__? Quit it, mech! Don't bring __**your **__issues into this!'_

"I know that _now_, don't I?"

"What?" She ignored him, stalking past him with the corpse still in her arms.

"Twilight, what are you doing?"

"Decepticons, retreat!" Twilight cursed. She turned to Magnus. As much as she hated the mech, she knew he'd help her with this.

"There are two femmes in a warehouse not far from here. Their energy signatures are not hidden, you'll be able to find them easily. The mother's designation is Blizzard and the sparkling's is Starlight. He was the femme's spark-mate and, as you can probably guess, the father of her sparkling." She set the body of Silverblade down by Ultra Magnus' feet.

"I promised them I'd find him. His designation was Silverblade - _Is_ Silverblade. I didn't realise that_ I_ was the one that offlined him."

"Take his body back to them. They deserve a final goodbye, and he deserves a proper send-off. Starlight has broken her ankle, it's not serious, but I recommend taking her to a medic. Tell them they have my sympathies." Twilight turned to walk away, but Magnus grabbed her wrist.

"Why are you doing this?" She scowled.

"Let go of me, Autobot. Or you will not live to regret it."

"Things would be different if you joined the Autobots, Twilight. You wouldn't have to hide the fact that you _do_, in fact, have regard for life. You wouldn't be treated like you are by the Decepticons."

"Because _you_ know how I'm 'treated'." Magnus sighed.

"Well, it's not hard to guess!" Shock struck Twilight's features. And then anger.

"Do you _really_ think I'd be so _low_ as to let them all-"

"C'mon Twilight, I know you act all sparkless and untouchable, but I also know that you're severely outnumbered. Just tell me who it is, and I'll-"

"And you'll _what_? Ride into base on a titanium steed and rescue me from the big, bad Decepticons that have been torturing me, forcing me to-"

"Twilight, I didn't mean it like _that_-"

"Like you've done _countless_ times before, with the Autobots, with my creators?"

"Twilight!"

But Magnus wasn't the only one shouting her name. And his wasn't the call she answered to.

"Cyclonus!" The mech had soon arrived on the scene, growling as he saw Twilight's wrist trapped in Magnus' hand. Ultra Magnus noticed the second in command's odd behavior, and his optics widened in horror.

_'No... It can't be __**him**__...'_ Searing pain in his wrist made him let go of the femme, and he realised that Cyclonus had shot him. He had left himself wide open, defenseless. He watched as Cyclonus took Twilight's wrist and dragged her towards Astrotrain. She followed him obediently, not once struggling.

_'How __**dare **__he think he has power over her! How __**dare **__he use her like that!'_ He knew Cyclonus. Cyclonus was sadistic, just like his master.

Ultra Magnus knew how the situation would have played out. Galvatron would've given his consent for Cyclonus to use her as a toy, and Twilight would take it all without complaint, just like everything else that had happened in the past. Sure, she'd probably try and fight back, but Cyclonus was tough.

He'd been reconstructed by the Chaos-Bringer himself, there was no way Twilight could defeat him. Besides, rebelling would surely only lead to more beatings, and Twilight had probably learned not to bother.

But as Astrotrain's doors slid closed, Ultra Magnus saw his old friend and Cyclonus conversing in an odd manner. The mech had a hand on Twilight's shoulder, what looked like concern etched across his face-plates. And she was waving him off, _smiling_ at him. No, she was just acting.

Acting with the hope that Cyclonus would go easy on her tonight, no doubt. For the first time in his life, Ultra Magnus felt a blackening rage take over his spark.

_'Don't worry, Twilight. You will no longer be subjected to his torture. I will protect you.'_

* * *

><p><strong>And I now have the mental image of Ultra Magnus riding on a giant metal horse. CANNOT UNSEE! Dear God (not you <em>NiceBeans<em> (inside joke)), what the frag is wrong with my brain? Bit of a short chapter, I know, sorry. Tomorrow's update will be longer, I hope. Damn, why do I like writing angry psychotic Magnus so much? There's something seriously wrong with me, I swear. Oh, and there's now three yeses for a prequel, which means I probably will do one. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Silverblade, Blizzard and Starlight.**


	21. Game

**Well, I said I was going to have this up on Monday night, but something came up, sorry. Anyway, thanks to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing. Written whilst listening to Destructo and Nero by Two Steps From Hell and Nemo by Nightwish. Hope you enjoy!**

**P.S - I_ really_ can't write from the Autobot's point of view, it always sucks, so I apologise in advance.**

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus was paranoid. All of the Autobots who had been there when New Kaon was attacked could see it. They just didn't know <em>what<em> he was so paranoid about. Not until now, anyway. Arcee was the one that had figured it out, during a meeting with Magnus, Kup, Springer and Rodimus.

* * *

><p>"The Decepticon femme is our best chance at-"<p>

"Her _designation_ is _Twilight_, Rodimus." Every head snapped around to Ultra Magnus as he all but _growled_ at their leader.

"Is everything alright, Magnus?" The large mech sighed.

"I'm_ fine_." But he wasn't. His hands were balled into fists on his lap, and his head was turned to the floor. The others in the room all looked to each-other and shrugged.

* * *

><p>Arcee was headed towards Magnus' quarters, determined to do <em>something<em> to help him. Knocking on the door, she heard a quiet "Enter." and did so. Shutting the door behind her, she walked up to Magnus' desk.

"Arcee! I didn't expect to see you! What can I do for you?" The pink femme sighed at her commander's awful acting.

"Ultra Magnus, we... We need to talk. About Twilight." The large mech stiffened visibly at the mention of the femme, and Arcee sighed once more. Magnus became defensive, but he knew that Arcee was onto him.

"Not now, Arcee." She frowned.

"If not now, then _when_? C'mon Magnus, I'm a femme, I understand this better than anyone." He sighed.

"Arcee, I don't want to talk about this." The femme sighed back.

"Alright then, but... Whenever you want to talk to me, you know you can, right?" There was silence, and Arcee turned to leave. She had almost reached the door when Magnus called out to her.

"Arcee! If... If it's alright with you, I guess... Talking about it might help." She smiled and nodded, sliding into the seat opposite Magnus'.

"So..."

"I... I've lied to you. All of you." Arcee raised an optic ridge.

"What do you mean?" Ultra Magnus sighed.

"I've... I've known Twilight since we were sparklings. She was such a kind, caring femme... She was friends with the Seekers, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp. And Soundwave, him too."

"My creators were good friends with hers. But no-one ever guessed what they had been _doing_ to Twilight. They... It's not my place to say the things they did, but... Just look up the designations 'Rapidracer' and 'Sunstar' on the database. You... You'll see. Anyway, there were a few... Misunderstandings, and she sided with the Decepticons."

"She... She kept warning me, telling me to get my family far away from hers... It's all my fault, if I had just taken the initiative-"

"It is_ not_ your fault, Magnus." The pink femme on the other side of the desk placed a hand on top of the Autobot commander's. He smiled at her, nodding to her in thanks.

"Before she had chosen sides, she was attacked by a couple of... _Less peaceful_ Autobots. They were in _my_ team, and I think that's the reason why she hates me so much. But... We were such close friends... I don't know why it all went wrong..." Arcee sighed. Yes, she had guessed that Ultra Magnus was once close to the Decepticon femme, but she didn't realise how _deep_ their friendship had been.

"She'll come around, Magnus. I'm sure she will." He sighed, shaking his head.

"She's not talking to me. Even if I fight her, she doesn't hear me out. I don't know what to do, Arcee. I... I don't want to lose her, not now that I've just found her again." The Autobot femme could tell that there was more on his mind.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Magnus nodded.

"I fear... That the Decepticons are..." Arcee sighed, optics turning to the floor.

"I've... I've been worrying about that, too."

"In New Kaon... I saw... I think it's Cyclonus..." The femme's optics widened in horror. The mech continued.

"I mean... I know she's tough... But if it _is_ Cyclonus... She has next to no chance." Arcee gave Magnus' hand a reassuring pat before standing.

"She can hold her own, Magnus, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"If she_ is_ just being tossed around, then she wouldn't be able to show up on the battlefield. I'm sure she's treated with just as much respect as the rest of the 'Cons." Ultra Magnus raised an eyebrow.

"...That _still_ wouldn't be much." She giggled softly.

"Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best choice of words. But you know what I mean, Magnus. You know better than any of us that Twilight is a prime example of why you shouldn't judge someone by appearances." The Autobot second in command smiled.

"Thank you, Arcee." The pink femme smiled back, but she still had the feeling that Ultra Magnus wasn't telling her the whole story.

_'Oh well,'_ she thought, _'He probably just needs some time.'_

"No problem, Magnus. And remember, if you ever want to talk again, I'm here. We all are, it's not just me that's been worrying about you." He frowned.

"About that... I... I don't want to ask too much of you... But do you think... Do you think you could wait for a while before telling the others? I'm not sure I'm ready for them to know just yet." She nodded.

"Of course I can. Goodnight, Magnus."

"Have a nice night, Arcee."

* * *

><p>At the Decepticon base, things couldn't possibly be any different to Ultra Magnus' suspicions. Twilight stood beside Cyclonus, in front of a huge crowd that held quite possibly every Decepticon stationed on Chaar.<p>

"Before the intervention of Autobot reinforcements, the raid on New Kaon went extremely - and unexpectedly - well, so, on Galvatron's behalf, I would like to thank you all." Twilight finished off her speech with a salute to her comrades, and was given the same sign of respect in return.

"Dismissed." The same procedure was followed as Cyclonus gave the all-clear for the troops to return to whatever they had been doing. Whatever that was, Twilight didn't care, she was far too busy trying to squash down her sadness. Trying to squash it down with anger and frustration, that is.

She now knew why that raid had been planned. She now knew what Galvatron needed - _wanted_ - all that extra energon for. She now knew why Silverblade had been fated to perish, to offline by _her_ hand, shattering Blizzard and Starlight's sparks.

_'For frag's sake, femme! Magnus did what you wanted him to do. They have been reunited, they are **fine**. You should just be happy that the raid went well and Galvatron is in a good mood!'_ She slumped down in her chair in the control room, knowing full well that her words weren't going to help her.

Galvatron's reason for attacking New Kaon was absolutely ridiculous, and it made her feel _even more_ at fault. A voice from behind her caught her attention, but she didn't jump in surprise, she had sensed the mech coming from a good way away.

"In a good enough mood to thank his soldiers directly, instead of his words being filtered through yours and Cyc's vocalisers?" She growled when she realised she must have muttered that part aloud.

"Do you enjoy creeping up behind people only to tell them information that they already know, Scourge?" He chuckled, sitting himself down in the chair beside hers.

"Only if it's you, Twilight." She rolled her optics.

"How reassuring."

"I _do_, however, enjoy letting people know that they have been muttering to themselves for quite a while, and have left _dents_ in the datapad from where they've been holding it so tightly."

She scowled at him, only to look down and see that he was telling the truth. There were dents in the report she had been writing out.  
>"Primus, how much of that did you hear?" The blue mech shrugged.<br>"I couldn't make out most of it, the control room's too busy, I only heard_ that_ part because I happened to walk past your lovely frame at the time."

"Strange and disturbing as the compliment was, thank you. Do you know how Galvatron is?" He chuckled.

"You think I'm crazy enough to disturb him? I'll leave that to you and Cyc. Speaking of Cyc, I don't know why he tries so hard." She shrugged, but her optics dimmed in concern.

"He was programmed -_ re_programmed - that way. So he wouldn't rebel or try to dethrone Galvatron." Scourge sighed.

"The title of leader is as good as his. He does all the work, he's the power behind the throne. You should have seen him, Twi, when we had lost Galvatron on Thrull."

"He was a great leader, making sure all mechs were accounted for, dividing the rations yet making sure there would be enough for Galvatron, should we find him. The amount of times I told him to give up the search... And what does he get in return?" Twilight sighed.

"Even you," The mech continued, "You can still have a laugh about our leader and continue being loyal. I know it's not something I, as a Decepticon, should feel, but I'm worried for him, Twi." She swiveled in her chair, fully facing him.

"First of all, it's Twi_light_. I've been called many ridiculous nicknames in the past, _you_ will not start bringing them all back up. Secondly, it does not matter what faction you are, every Cybertronian has emotions."

"Whoa, don't start going all 'phylosophical Autobot' on me."

"Shut your mouth. What I was_ trying_ to say was, you sure as the Pit aren't the only one who has different emotions than the standard Decepticon package." He laughed.

"And what would the 'standard Decepticon package' be?"

"You know, hatred, anger, cold indifference. The whole 'I eat sparklings for breakfast' attitude." He opened his mouth, but she spoke again.

"And don't come back with some smart-aft remark about how we don't technically have breakfast because we're on rations." His optics widened in surprise. She let herself show a quick smirk of satisfaction.

"Damn, you're good."

"I know. I lived with a joker most of my life, I know practically every trick on the datapad." He smiled.

"Sparkmate?" She shook her head.

"Brother. One of four... Well... Five, I guess."

"You _guess_?"

"Long story." Twilight could tell from the look on his face that the tracker wasn't going to give up.

"Long story _short_, he's an Autobot. I don't speak to him anymore, I don't want to, and no, smart-aft, I don't 'miss him'." He smirked.

"Great minds think alike, my dear." She smirked back.

"Yeah? Well, I'd say mine's _a little_ greater." He laughed.

"This brother of yours sounds like he'd be a real laugh, where is he?" She stiffened, but quickly shook off the feeling.

"Offline." She stated simply.

"That's a shame. But not to fear, you have me now!" She laughed, rolling her optics.

"I repeat myself, how reassuring." Suddenly, a mischevious smirk appeared on the winged mech's face-plates, and Twilight braced herself for whatever mental assault he was about to launch upon her.

"Wandering back onto the subject of sparkmates..."

"Goodbye, Scourge." She moved to stand up, but her pulled her back down.

"And you have just sealed your fate, my lady! There's a mech in your life, isn't there?" She laughed.

"_No_, Scourge. Apart from the one brother who is still online that I actually have a friendship with." He apparently believed her, but countered with,

"Okay, but, you wouldn't be so defensive about the topic of bonding if you didn't have a mech you wanted to bond with." She frowned.

"Why do you immediately assume it's something as serious as bonding?."

"So there_ is_ someone then! Is it me? You can be honest if it is, I really won't mind." Twilight rolled her optics.

"As long as it's not Mr Nutcase or Mr Monotone, you have my approval." She raised an optic ridge.

"I'm assuming you mean Galvatron and Soundwave? Soundwave is the one brother that's still online that I mentioned, by the way. And I don't _need_ your approval, because there is no-one here that interests me."

"Oh but there _is_, dearest Twilight, I can tell! I have a gift for this sort of thing!"

_'He has **got** to be **Skywarp's** reformatted frame.'_ She rolled her optics as he carried on.

"Alright then, let's play a little game." Her optic ridge rose once more.

"And what are the rules of this 'little game' of yours?" Scourge smirked.

"I'm going to name a feature of the mechs at base, and you have to tell me whether or not the mech you love has that feature or not."

_'Well, there's no point in hiding the fact that there **is** someone, because he knows. But depending on how long the game goes on for, he'll eventually end up finding out.'_

"I'm not sure, Scourge."

"If you think I'm going too far, we'll stop."

"At _any_ point?" He nodded. She rolled her optics. She seemed to be doing a lot of that around Scourge. Not that she could _possibly_ think of a reason why. Besides, he'd just get the twins - or maybe the Sweeps - to bug her all day if she didn't play.

"Fine, I'll play your stupid game."

"Alright then, let's see... Does he have red optics?" She narrowed her own crimson ones at him.

"You are one _dumb_ fragger, you know that? Yes, he does. And don't say 'Is it a mech?' next, or I'll quit." He chuckled.

"Damn, you're good. Does he have a visor?" She shook her head.

"Does he have a mask?" Another shake of her head.

"Is he part of a combiner team?" Once again, no. She quickly realised that Scourge had already managed to narrow it down to about nine mechs.

"Does he have white face-plates?" Reluctantly, she nodded.

"Alright, I'm out."

"But it was just getting good!" He whined. She rolled her optics.

"For _you_, maybe." She picked up the few datapads that she had left to fill out. He chuckled.

"I need to make some time to talk with your lovely self more often." She laughed.

"You also need to work on your small talk. And if you _are_ going to, do so quickly, because you will not be seeing 'my lovely self' much longer." He frowned.

"Why not?" She realised what she had said, and tried to backtrack.

"Because if you openly mock our leader - and my brother - again, I may have to offline you." Twilight put on a fake innocent smile. With a mental sigh of relief, she headed for her quarters.

Scourge smirked at her retreating form, impressed with his own skills. And for good reason, too. He had managed to narrow it down to four mechs. Galvatron, Astrotrain, Octane, and_ Cyclonus_.

It _certainly_ wasn't Galvatron or Octane. After that analysis, Scourge was almost one-hundred percent sure he had hit the nail on the head. He started to head to his own quarters, whistling a tune as he went.

* * *

><p><strong>I told you I wasn't finished writing my silly interpretation of Scourge XD. Hope you enjoyed!<strong>

********Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Rapidracer, Sunstar, Silverblade, Blizzard and Starlight.********


	22. Confessions

**Sorry it took me, like, over a week to update this guys. Thank you to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to Elvenpath by Nightwish, and the whole of the Two Steps From Hell album, 'Archangel'. Yeah... I _really_ wasn't happy with this for quite a while. I'm still iffy about it now, it's another one of those 'in the way' chapters. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>After finishing the reports and handing them in to Galvatron, Twilight headed over to the wash racks. Energon from one of her foes in the battle at New Kaon had left a stain on her audio receptor, and, though she could not see it without looking at her reflection, she knew it was there, and it bothered her greatly. Normally, she wouldn't care about appearances, but, given the events that took place during that battle, she decided that she would make an exception.<p>

Turning on one of the showers, she stood under the water, letting it rinse her body clean. She thought back on what had happened on Cybertron. Somehow, that damn sparkling and her mother had managed to worm their way into her blackened, twisted spark. They had wriggled into her life, and Twilight just knew it would be quite a while before she could show them the way out.

The femme smiled slightly as she sensed Cyclonus approaching her location, but the expression was quickly wiped off her face as he entered the room. He was angry. Scratch that, he was downright _furious_. With what – or, most likely, _who_ – she did not know.

"Evening, Cyclo-" She was cut off as the tall mech grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her into the wall.

She frowned, visor flipping down reflexively.

"Hey, what the-"

"What the _frag_ were you thinking, Twilight?" Her frown deepened in confusion.

"What are you-"

"The sparkling, in New Kaon! You spared the lives of two Autobots!"

She flinched. How in the Pit had he _seen_ her? More importantly, how in the Pit had she _not_ seen _him_?

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me! I saw you! What were you thinking? Sparing the lives of two Autobots and then searching the battlefield for an Autobot soldier's body to bring back to them! Are you insane?"

She growled, but tried to keep her voice even.

"She was just a sparkling, Cyclonus!"

"If Galvatron were to know about this-"

"_Tell_ Galvatron then! He's bound to be getting rid of me soon anyway!" She wriggled out of Cyclonus' grasp and made her way to the door, realising what she had just said.

_'That's twice now, femme! Stop being such an idiot!'_

"Get rid of you... Twilight, _what_ are you talking about?" His voice had turned soft now, back to the Cyclonus she was used to hearing.

"Just forget I ever said anything, it doesn't matter." He blocked the door, keeping it closed.

"Don't be an aft, Cyclonus. Move. _Now_."

"Not until you tell me what in Primus' name is going on!"

"Get the_ Pit_ out of my way, _now_!"

"No."

He managed to hide the shock that coursed through his spark as he heard the sound of Twilight's claw blades unsheathing.

"_Move_." She growled. He saw her hands clench into fists, saw those deadly blades that could pierce his spark in an instant.

_'She's not going to do it. She wouldn't… **Would** she?'_ It was then that Cyclonus came to think that he didn't really know the femme at all. Still, he stood his ground.

"_No_." She took a step forward, and he braced himself.

Relief flooded through his frame when she sighed and stepped back, claw blades sliding back into her armour. She kept backing down until her body hit the wall, and then she sunk to the floor.

An all too familiar pair of voices wandered into Twilight's processor.

_'Cyclonus is right. You shouldn't have become attached to the two Autobots.'_

_'Okay, so maybe it was wrong... But...'_

_'But **nothing**! Look at what you've done! You shouldn't have gotten close to them! You shouldn't have gotten close to **Cyclonus**! Ever since you were stationed here, you have royally screwed things up for yourself!'_

_'I've ruined any chances I had with him. It would never have worked out, and it sure as the Pit won't **now**.'_

She heard a quiet _**'thud'** _as Cyclonus sat down next to her. She dully realised that the showers were still turned on, but couldn't find the energy to reach up and stop the running water. She heard the mech beside her sigh, and she tentatively tried to break the silence.

"Look, Cyclonus, what I did was stupid and I probably breached every Decepticon law. You have every right to-"

"No, I don't."

"Excuse me?" Cyclonus sighed again.

"I have no idea why you did what you did, but I'm sure you had your reasons, whatever they may be. I should not have suddenly snapped at you like that, it was wrong of me to do so."

"Don't be ridiculous, it's your job." He sighed once more, and they both grew silent again. Another thought struck him then, and he chuckled slightly before turning to her.

"You enjoyed it, didn't you?" She raised an optic ridge, facing him.

"Enjoyed what?"

"Holding a sparkling in your arms." She sighed.

"…Yes, I did." He let a small smile creep onto his face-plates.

"Have you ever imagined yourself as a mother?" Twilight was – needless to say – taken aback by the question, but she answered anyway.

"Many times, actually. Always did want a sparkling."

"Seriously?"

"Hard to believe, I know. I always wanted the simple life, sparkmate, sparkling, an easy job. I guess the war ruined everyone's idea of 'a simple life'." Cyclonus smiled.

"Well, one day, maybe you'll get the life you wanted."

"Alright, Mr. Autobot. Thanks for the pep-talk."

He punched her lightly in the arm.

"Shut it,_ femme_."

"You shut it, _mech_. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but I need to go and recharge. Walk with me?" He nodded, falling into step at her side as they walked back to their quarters.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, crappy ending is crappy. On a brighter note, I came up with a really good idea for a prequel for this yesterday, so it's a definite now. Hope you enjoyed, feedback is always appreciated!<strong>

**P.S. Hope I didn't fool any of you with the title XD.**

**********Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**********


	23. Experiment

**This is a better chapter than the last one, I hope. Thank you to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing, adding this story to their faves and adding me to their fave author's list! And thanks to_ ZabuzasGirl_ for faving the story! Written whilst listening to Suicune's battle music, Entei's battle music and Raikou's battle music from Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver. Why yes, I am made of _that_ much awesomeness. (...and yes, the Suicune one was the eleven minute-long looped version... DON'T JUDGE ME!) Okay then, on with the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Scourge walked up to the door to Cyclonus' quarters, knocking on the door rapidly.<p>

"Cyc! Cyc! Open up, quickly! It's a matter of grave importance!" The Decepticon second in command sighed, standing up from his desk chair. If it were anyone else, he'd probably take less time to trudge to the door.

Yes, Scourge was one of the only Decepticons he considered a friend, but the mech's idea of a 'matter of grave importance' was a bit different to, well... _everybody else's_. Sighing once more, Cyclonus opened the door.

"What is it, Scourge?"

"It's about Twilight!" Wordlessly, the SIC swung the door closed again.

Once again, had it been anybody different - perhaps, he thought, with the exception of the twins - he would have been on high alert, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. Sitting back down, he only had time to write a few words of his report before Scourge entered his quarters, slamming the door shut behind him and throwing the whole meaning of the word 'privacy' out the window.

"What _are_ you doing, Scourge?"

"Like I said, it's about Twilight!" Cyclonus rolled his optics.

"What about her?"

"She admitted that there is a mech on Chaar that she wishes to court!" Once again, the second in command rolled his optics.

"Why would she say that? And to _you_ of all mechs?" Scourge smirked.

"Fine, fine, don't believe me. I recorded the conversation, by the way. If you want to listen, that is." Cyclonus frowned, attempting to carry on writing out the report. Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him.

"Very well, Scourge, send me the data." The Sweep leader's smirk only grew wider as he complied. Cyclonus, who had chosen the worst time to take a sip of his energon cube, almost spat it out all over his friend when he heard the audio Scourge had recorded. He quickly recovered however, putting on a 'poker face', as the humans call it.

"And why should this matter to me?" The tracker rolled his optics.

"C'mon Cyc, I may be 'one _dumb_ fragger', as Twilight put it, but even _I_ can see how you feel about her." Cyclonus sighed.

_'Is it **that** fragging obvious?'_

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Scourge. Now, if you don't mind, I have a report to-"

"How about we conduct a... little experiment, then?" The SIC raised an optic ridge.

"Explain."

"I'll say a word, and you have to say the first thing that comes into your mind. Don't think, just say it."

_'It's risky... Then again, it's **Scourge**.'_

"_Fine_. But I don't see the point-"

"_You_ don't _need_ to, Cyc. Right, you ready?" The purple Decepticon rolled his optics and nodded.

"Buildings."

"Constructicons."

"Battlefield."

"Kaon."

"Melee weapons."

"Twilight."

"Planets."

"Thellion."

"Friends."

"...You."

"Capital."

"Iacon."

"Loyalty."

"Galvatron."

"Organic."

"Earth."

"War."

"Destruction."

"Peace."

"Twilight." Cyclonus glared at Scourge. The Sweep leader simply continued.

"Clubs."

"Vos."

"Past."

"Thundercracker." The blue mech raised an optic ridge, but carried on.

"Sparklings."

"Cassettes."

"Autobots."

"Hatred."

"Love?"

"Twili-." The Decepticon second in command clamped his mouth shut. He growled.

"I'm not in love with anyone!" Scourge chuckled.

"Uh huh? Do we need to play another round?" Cyclonus sighed.

"Alright, fine. Yes, Scourge, I love her. Happy now?"

"Go get her then! Why haven't you asked her to court yet?" The purple mech rolled his optics.

"She doesn't love me, Scourge."

"You're kidding, right? After she dropped out of the game, there were four mechs left. Galvatron, Octane, Astrotrain, and _you._ Who do you think she's the closest to?"

"Astrotrain." The tracker rolled his optics.

"Don't be a fool, Cyclonus!"

"Listen, Cyc, you need to hurry up. Earlier, she said that I 'wasn't going to be seeing her for much longer'. She passed it off as a joke, but I think she's let something slip without meaning to and then tried to cover it up."

_'Come to think of it... She said something similar in the wash racks...'_

"I think you're running out of time, Cyc." Before the SIC could say anything in reply, Galvatron's voice made him curse inwardly in surprise.

_'Cyclonus! Gather any able soldiers! If they can walk, they can fight! Have them all in the control room in half an hour! I have planned another raid!'_ The comm. link was cut before Cyclonus could respond.

"Galvatron?" Scourge asked. The purple mech nodded.

"He's planned another raid. Gather your Sweeps, have them - and yourself - in the control room in half an hour."

"No problem. But seriously, Cyc, you should tell her soon."

"Do you have any idea how furious she would be?"

"The only thing she'd be furious about is the fact that you took so long to tell her, I guarantee it."

"Scourge, when you 'guarantee' things, something goes horribly wrong, and an explosion is usually involved."

"Whoa, hold on a second! Who are we talking about here, _me_ or _the twins_?" Cyclonus chuckled.

"In all seriousness, Cyc-"

"Alright, Scourge, I get it!" The two Decepticons left Cyclonus' quarters.

"...After this raid, I'll tell her." They parted ways down the corridor, but not before Scourge sent Cyclonus a smirk and a nod.

_'I'll hold you to that, my friend.'_

* * *

><p><strong>...I like my version of Scourge, nobody judge me! Hope you all enjoyed!<strong>

**********Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**********


	24. Final Phase

**Sorry this took me a while, I'm not very happy with it -_-. Thanks to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing, _Zypherion-DeathNova_ for adding this story to their faves, _Brightfirewarriorcat_ for reviewing and faving the story, and, last but not least, thank you to _Corevil_ for faving the story, faving me, and putting me and this story onto their alert lists. Thanks so much, you guys =). Written whilst listening to The Humbling River by Puscifer (Fall of Cybertron FTW! I seriously cannot wait!) and pretty much the whole of the Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald soundtrack (yup, I'm _still that_ awesome). Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**P.S. - Apologies for any mistakes, I'm really tired -_- (Probably should be in bed, but mehh, don't care).**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus knocked on Twilight's door, smiling slightly when she opened it with a crooked smile of her own.<p>

"Hey, Cyclonus, what's up?"

"Galvatron has planned another raid, he wants all able soldiers in the control room in half an hour, that - of course - includes you." She nodded.

"Okay, I'll be there." They said their goodbyes as the SIC went to gather more troops. Twilight closed the door to her quarters, sinking to the floor with her back pressed against it.

_'Not sure if **planned** is the right word for it.' _The femme sighed. Was she ready for this? She'd barely had time to get over the - for lack of a better word - drama of the last raid! She held her head in her hands as she finally came to realise that she and Thundercracker had once been in Starlight's position.

She knew _exactly_ how that youngling had felt. Helplessly watching as their creators were murdered before their optics. Never in her life had Twilight wanted to cry so much. But she couldn't, lest the monsters hunting her and her brother down hear her, lest they meet the same fate as the ones who had loved and cared for them. Twilight growled to herself.

_'Get **over** it, femme! You've offlined too many to back out of this now!'_ And with that thought, Twilight stormed out of her quarters, abandoning the thought of the New-Kaonian youngling and her creators.

* * *

><p>Twilight entered the control room moments later, only to find that Cyclonus was in there alone. She remembered something then, and she mentally face-palmed.<p>

_'He said 'in half an hour' you **dunce**.' _Before she could back out of the door, he had looked up from his datapad and spotted her.

"Twilight? What are you doing here?" She shrugged, barely holding back a yawn. Primus, she was tired.

"Had nothing else to do, so I figured I'd come here early." He chuckled.

"You know, you _could_ go and recharge, for once. I'm not going to make you stay here." She rolled her optics.

'_Why didn't** I **think of that?' _She waved the thought off, however.

"I wouldn't wake up in time." She giggled, though it was the truth. Before Cyclonus could say anything else, the doors to the control room opened and Scourge walked in, along with the Sweeps. As Cyclonus walked off to continue his report, Scourge winked at Twilight and started to 'innocently' whistle.

_'Oh** frag**, he knows!' _The femme quickly contacted the Sweep leader through a private comm. link.

_'I swear to Primus, Scourge, if you say **anything**-'_

_'Relax, femme! I haven't said anything, and I'm not **going** to. Calm down!'_ She growled in warning before terminating the link. Her foot slammed down onto his as his whistling escalated in volume after he saw Cyclonus nearing them. Not a moment later had Galvatron walked in, followed by Soundwave.

During Galvatron's typical speech about how this raid would 'finally crush the pathetic Autobots and lead the Decepticons to victory', Soundwave contacted Twilight over a private comm.

_'After speech; head to Soundwave's quarters.'_ She turned her head to him slightly when Galvatron wasn't facing her, raising an optic ridge.

**_'What's this about?'_**

_'Privacy; a necessity.'_

**_'Soundwave, what are-'_**

_'**Privacy**; a necessity.' _He severed the link as Galvatron stopped pacing and turned to his soldiers again.

"You have an hour to prepare yourselves for the raid before I want your afts back in here and ready to leave!" The Decepticons present looked at each-other in disbelief. Galvatron... was giving them time to _prepare_? They thought nothing of it, seeing it as one of the warlord's spur of the moment personality changes, and left without a word. Cyclonus was the only one to stay.

"My Lord, is there anything else you need me to-"

"Leave me, Cyclonus!" The mech did so silently, and Galvatron punched the air, pacing rapidly.

_'What the **frag** is it going to take? I set up that damn raid so the slagger could claim Twilight, not so he could continue to follow me around like some lost cyber-dog! **What** is it going to **take**?'_

* * *

><p>Once they had entered Soundwave's quarters and the door was shut securely, Twilight barely registered the click of Soundwave's mask pulling back before he rounded on her.<p>

"You said this wasn't going to be like Thundercracker!" It took her a mere moment to catch onto what her 'brother' was talking about.

"It's_ not_ like Thundercracker!" Soundwave scowled, visor on the verge of flipping up.

"You're right, it's _worse_! Thundercracker was a good friend of mine too, Twilight, and I know how much he meant to you. He was like a brother to you, and I respect that, but... _Primus_, Twilight, in all the years I've known you, you haven't fallen for any mech's attempts at courting you, and there's been more than a few. Out of all the mechs, you fall in love with the fragging _second in command_!" The femme sighed, slumping to the floor.

"It wasn't like I really had a choice. If I could, I'd ignore these feelings, you know how much I want them to go away. But you also know as much as I do that this isn't just a case of lust, or some silly crush. Soundwave, my _spark_ keeps reaching out to him, and I can't stop it." Soundwave sighed.

"Just_ admit_ it, Sister. You love him. It's not_ just_ your spark reaching out to him involuntarily. Your spark is being reinforced by the feelings _you_ refuse to acknowledge, and that's _why_ you can't stop it." She sighed, and he moved to pick her up and gently set her down on his berth.

"Soundwave..."

"Just... Just promise me you won't endanger yourself. If Galvatron found out about this... Primus, you could get yourself offlined, Twilight." She sighed again.

"You think I don't know that? I'd rather keep my head attached to my body, where it belongs, thank you very much." Soundwave sighed.

"He makes you happy, Twilight. I know he does, I can see it. I just want you to be happy again." He sat next to her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I _am_ happy, Brother. With you and the cassettes. I've managed to make it this far without a mech in my life, I'll be fine. Besides, pathetic as it sounds, I'm not sure I'd be able to handle being rejected. It's better if he doesn't know, Soundwave." She got up, making her way to the door after giving her brother a friendly kiss on the cheek-plate. She turned briefly before she left.

"I feel as though I have... Neglected you. You're my brother, and I've hardly spent any time with you, despite the fact that we work with each-other nearly every day. I'll make more of an effort to meet with you more often, it's been awhile since we've been able to talk properly." Soundwave smiled.

"That would be nice. The twins have been complaining about how you don't visit like you used to." Twilight raised an optic ridge.

"I'm sorry, _who_ did I say I was going to visit? I'm pretty sure I said you, not those two little devils." She giggled, and he laughed with her.

"Well, I'll see you in an hour, Brother." Soundwave sighed, mask sliding back into place as his sister left the room.

_'Oh Twilight, if only you would allow yourself to be loved.'_

* * *

><p>The good thing about being a communications mech's offspring, Rumble and Frenzy thought, was that even if you didn't care about the subject, it was in your programming to learn every trick about hacking that your creators knew. Unfortunately, the twins didn't take to learning too well.<p>

But, with some brotherly love - and a donation of two weeks worth of their energon rations - they had managed to get Ravage to hack Scourge's comms for them. Their eldest brother didn't ask why he was being bribed to do such a thing, he simply complied with the younger cassettes' demands and then trotted off happily, knowing that his daily intake of energon had just been tripled for a fortnight.

Maybe, if the feline wasn't so drugged up on happiness, he would have thought to listen to the data file he had just grabbed from Scourge's comm system. But he didn't, and to be honest, he didn't care. He was getting extra energon out of this, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

* * *

><p>The twins were ecstatic. <em>This<em> is what they'd been wanting to hear! This day was just getting better and better! After they'd checked to make sure that the ventilation systems in the base were big enough for them to crawl through, they had stealthily made their way into the vent running above Cyclonus' quarters, listened in on his conversation with Scourge, and then got the slag out of there with huge, triumphant smirks on their face-plates.

So, phase two was complete. They had managed to get Cyclonus and Twilight to admit their feelings for each-other to somebody else. Even though they had been hidden away in their alt modes when Twilight and Soundwave were having their conversation, they knew what words had been exchanged.

And _that_ was all thanks to an audio recorder they had attached to the inside of the vent wall. Now that Soundwave was out getting ready for the new raid, they were adding their new-found information to the datapad they had titled **Operation: Matchmaking.** Rumble bumped fists with his brother. Neither could believe how well this had gone. And without much 'help' from them, either!

"Well," Frenzy sighed as if all this 'matchmaking' was hard work, "There's only phase three left. Get 'em to confess to each-other." Rumble's smirk grew even wider, if that was possible.

"Well Bro, I'd say this is a job well done! Now, we need to work out how we're gonna get all our rations back off'a Ravage!" The red and black twin nodded, pulling out a new datapad. Everything was going according to plan...

* * *

><p><strong>And another<em> crap<em> chapter ending for you all. Don't bother complaining about Soundwave's OOCness, you should have gotten used to it by now, and I've already explained the whole 'mask' situation in a previous A/N somewhere. It's my mum's birthday tomorrow, so I may not be able to update 'cos we're going out for dinner. I'll try though. And now if you'll excuse me, it's twenty-five to one in the morning over here, and I'm going to bed. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, much love to you all.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight and Starlight.**


	25. Battle

**Hello! Found the time to update, and I may be able to fit one more in before I go out. Written whilst listening to Paralyzer and Stay and Drown by Finger Eleven and Pretty Girl (The Way) by Sugarcult. Thanks for reviewing, _TheLoveDov_! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>An hour's recharge from her chat with Soundwave later, and Twilight found herself hurrying around her quarters, quickly signing the few datapads she had forgotten about before gathering them up in her arms and sprinting out of the door, not bothering to check if it had shut properly behind her, simply waving off the slamming sound as a confirmation.<p>

_'I fragging **knew** I wouldn't wake up in time!'_ She growled to herself as she burst into the control room. Somehow, she had _still_ managed to make it there before their leader. Before most of the mechs that were attending the raid, actually. Nine pairs of optics locked onto her frame as she hurriedly rushed off into the communications centre, not giving the mechs she'd left behind a second thought. Astrotrain let out a low whistle.

"Man, that femme can _run_!" Rumble and Frenzy were chuckling madly. Twilight soon rushed back into the control room, having left the datapads on whoever's desks they were supposed to be left on.

"What?" She asked with a giggle as the nine mechs stared at her. Scourge opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly silenced by the sound of the control room's doors opening. The Decepticon leader walked in, followed by the Constructicons. Twilight rose an optic ridge, opening a comm. link with Cyclonus.

_**'**These** are **all** the able mechs?' **_She heard the mech sigh through the link.

_'Unfortunately, yes.' _Twilight finished off his sentence.

_**'Which means that this raid is probably going to be even worse than the last one, in terms of the injury count.'**_ Another sigh. It was true. They had less soldiers, and they were attacking an even bigger base. The very idea was insane, but, when you considered the fact that their leader was too, it made a little more sense.

"Decepticons, move out!" Galvatron yelled, and the group of sixteen Decepticons took to the skies, heading towards the capital of Cybertron.

* * *

><p>Iacon. It felt like it had been so long since Twilight had set foot in the city, when it had actually just been a little less than a year. Which meant that it had only been about two years since her team's offlining.<p>

Having nothing else on her mind whilst flying through space, Twilight briefly thought back on her crew. Techno, the communications mech, the outgoing one, always wearing a smile on his face-plates.

Firecracker, the weapons specialist, the one who liked to make things explode, whether it was an Autobot prisoner or a building full of the disgusting faction. Accelerator, the scout, the quiet one who just used to sit in silence, reading a novel, the mech who was faster than Twilight, and could easily keep up with Blurr.

The Decepticon femme's battle mask and visor slid on soundlessly as she hid a scowl. She refused to think about Nightslash, the arrogant Seeker whose fault it was that Twilight had had to bury her comrades and leave four silver grave markers behind the day she left to become part of the Decepticon army stationed on Chaar.

She sped up ever so slightly, bracing herself for landing and praying to Primus - or whatever deity that might have been listening - that she didn't have a repeat of what had happened on that moon.

Almost fainting in front of Cyclonus had been embarrassing enough, and she didn't need it to happen on front of a whole crowd of Decepticons - including Galvatron - and whatever Autobot forces were opposing them. The landing went well, and Twilight was given her orders.

She easily made her way onto the roof of a nearby building, waiting until every Autobot had been distracted by the Decepticons that were charging towards them. She waited for a while until that fragging moron Ultra Magnus stopped looking around - for her, no doubt - and then she slipped onto the roof of the communications centre.

Easily slicing a hole through the roof, she jumped down into the room. She hadn't expected to be plunged into complete darkness as soon as her feet touched the floor, but she quickly shook off her surprise. She crouched down to the floor, quickly counting the shuffling footsteps of the Autobots in the room. She made out three different patterns, and backed away behind a control panel.

She had set the brightness of her optics on the lowest possible setting, but the Autobot's hadn't been intelligent enough to keep theirs the same way.

_'Amateurs.'_ She smirked slightly behind her mask. Yes, she could make them out clearly now. Three pairs of wide blue optics all locked onto each-other's.

They were all steering clear of the hole in the roof, which was letting in a minuscule amount of light. They thought she was gone. In their panic to conceal themselves when she had arrived, they thought that because of the silence she had left once seeing how dark - and apparently 'empty' - the communications centre was.

_'Scratch that, they're not amateurs, they're slagging **rookies**. Leave it to the Autobots to station inexperienced new recruits in charge of the **communications centre** during an attack.' _She straightened her back a little, pressing herself to the control panel as one of the Autobots walked past it.

_'How blind can you get when your optics are at full intensity?'_ She giggled, just loud enough for the mechs to hear her. The same shuffle of three pairs of anxious footsteps.

"W-Who's there? S-Show yourself, Decepticon scum!" She laughed loudly, and then called out in a mocking tone,

"Pretty brave, calling _me_ scum when _you're_ the pathetic wastes of space that can't defend their own city's communications centre." A different voice, but one just as frightened as the first.

"W-we _can_ defend Iacon! Just you watch! Y-you'll see!" Another laugh. Then, quick as a flash, she moved from her hiding place without a sound, to cling to the metal pipes running along the ceiling.

"W-Where did you go?" A third voice asked.

"Foolish Autobot, don't you know that it's never a good idea to reveal your position to the opposing force?" The voice of the second soldier returned to her horned audios, the mech having gained a little confidence.

"And don't _you_ know that hiding from your opponent when you're both in audio-shot of each-other is sometimes classed as cowardice?" She let out another energon-chilling laugh.

"You know what? That was brave of you, soldier." She could see hope glitter in one out of the three pairs of blue optics that were searching for her.

"I'll offline _you_ last." All blue optics went round in horror, and she swung down, cutting the neck cables of the rookie Autobot that was closest to her.

Grabbing the next pipe along from hers, she brought her legs down to the ground before slicing right through the spark chamber of a second soldier. Snapping her head to the side, she dodged a shot from the last one's blaster. She ran towards him, smirking as he cringed in fear. Stopping just short of tackling him to the ground, she kicked the blaster out of his hand before pinning him to the wall.

"Designation?"

"I-It's Meteoracer, ma'am."

"Ah, okay then, Meteoracer. I kept my word, didn't I?"

"I'm afraid I d-don't know what you're t-talking about, m-ma'am."

"I said I'd offline you last, did I not?" Pure horror struck Meteoracer's features just before Twilight brought her claw-blades to his neck and sliced his head clean off. She giggled as she let the decapitated body fall to the floor.

**_'Okay, old friend, coast's all clear.'_** Not a moment later had Soundwave arrived, cutting off the Autobot's comm. signals and cancelling any transmissions for help they had sent out. Twilight slipped out of the control room and made her way onto the battlefield, cutting down a few mechs threatening to overwhelm Scourge.

"Y'know, I could've handled that." She giggled behind her mask.

"Of _course_ you could have." Without another word, she had darted away again, offlining mech after mech that tried to stop her. After severing Springer's arm and kicking Kup out of her way, Twilight paused to look around. Her optics widened in shock as she saw a stray gunshot headed straight for Cyclonus, who was too distracted by his fight with Ultra Magnus to notice it. For the first time in years, fear spread throughout her spark. Without thinking, she broke into a sprint.

_'He's not going to move in time!' _Panic driving her onwards, she barely had time to yell out,

"Cyclonus, look out!" Before she pushed the mech to the floor, taking the hit for him. Pain rippled through her as the blast tore straight through her hip and part of her tanks.

The force of the energy blast combined with the fact that her feet had left the ground to push Cyclonus out of harm's way sent her careening backwards, through the wall of a nearby building, and she bit back a yell as her frame slammed into a control panel in the room she had landed in. With a groan, Twilight lifted her head up to assess the damage. She tried in vain to block out her pain sensors.

She allowed herself to let out a gasp as she saw the full extent of the hit. Her hip was practically gone, her leg quite literally held in place by a few wires. Part of the right side of her tanks was also missing, and she fought the urge to throw up when she saw bits and pieces of herself littering the floor. Then the nausea hit her. It rolled over her in harsh, unrelenting waves, threatening to drown her in unconsciousness.

Everything turned blurry as she struggled to keep her optics from shutting down and she could barely make out her own laboured breathing as her audios slowly began to fail.

She vaguely made out Cyclonus' voice as he yelled her name, his body becoming a purple blur as he ran towards her. At least, she thought, she had been successful. She'd managed to save him, and that's all that mattered. She let her head fall back in defeat. There were only two things she was absolutely certain of as she lay there in immense pain, waiting for the blissful release of offlining to take her away.

One; that being stupid and sentimental enough to let herself fall helplessly in love with Cyclonus had been a _terrible_ idea, and two; that she wasn't making it out of _this_ battle online.

* * *

><p><strong>...How many of you hate me?<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Twilight, Techno, Firecracker, Accelerator, Nightslash, and Meteoracer.**


	26. To Have and To Hold

**Got back home earlier than I thought I would, so I should hopefully have a couple more up tonight. Written whilst listening to I Want My Tears Back, Storytime and Last Ride of the Day by Nightwish. Anyway, on with the chapter! **

* * *

><p>No. <em>No<em>. This could_ not_ be happening.

Cyclonus barely had time to register Twilight's words before he saw the flash of an energy blast and felt himself hit the ground. Expecting to feel great pain, he had lay there for a moment, but nothing happened. It was then that he realised what Twilight had done. He saw the whole in the wall, and through it he saw something he wished he could erase from his memory.

Not giving the now-unconscious Ultra Magnus a second thought, he pushed himself onto his feet and ran to the femme. He stopped short as he saw in detail the damage that had been done to her. There was a huge hole in her right side, where her hip and part of her tanks had once been.

Energon stained the floor of the room she had been thrown into, and bits and pieces of her frame were scattered around. She had lost too much energon already, and it was still leaking from snapped lines. Cyclonus closed the distance between them, holding her shoulder and gently shaking her.

"Twilight! Twilight! Come on!" Her optics onlined, and her mask snapped back.

"C-Cyclonus? Oh, good, you're okay. Wish... Wish I could say the same for myself." He frowned.

"Why in the_ Pit_ are you worrying about how _I_ am? Don't joke about this! Why do you have to make a joke out of everything concerning your health?" She laughed, but the sound was strained.

"Don't _cry_, Cyclonus."

"I'm not crying!" He snapped in a defensive tone. She continued to laugh.

_'Hook! Twilight's been gravely injured! Requesting medical assistance immediately!'_ He heard the Constructicon sigh.

_'We've got our hands full out here, Cyclonus.'_

_'If you do not get here ASAP, she **will** offline!'_

_'How serious is it?'_

_'Fragging** serious**! She's had a hole blown through her tanks!'_ A violent string of curses could be heard within the link.

_'I'm sending Scavenger and Long Haul to your location as we speak. Stay with her, her energy signature's too faint for us to track anymore, they're following yours.'_

_'Understood.'_

_'It's not like I'd leave her side.'_

"H-Heh, ironic, isn't it? My team offlined here two years ago, now I guess it's my turn." His optics locked on hers in a fiery, defiant glare.

"Do _not_ speak like that! You are not going to offline here! The Constructicons are on their way!"

"They're not going to get here in time, Cyclonus. Even _I_ can see that."

"_Stop_ talking like that! Are you not afraid of death?" She laughed, but that provoked a painful bout of coughing. She weakly managed to bring a hand over her mouth. After she'd stopped, she answered.

"O-Of course I am... Who isn't? But, there's no p-point in getting my h-hopes up."

"_Please_, Twilight. Stop this. You _will_ live." She cocked her head to the side.

"D-Did you just say _please_? Hm, miracles_ can_ happen, it seems." He smiled weakly, but it didn't reach his optics. All of a sudden she rolled onto her side, motioning with her hand for him to look away as she purged her tanks. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she sent him a crooked smile.

"A-Apologies, Cyclonus. I... I didn't exactly ever want you to see me like this." He laughed quietly.

"Since when did _you_ care about appearances?"

"I guess... For you... I'll make an exception." Her words did nothing but confuse him. She coughed again, bringing up yet another mouthful of energon.

"H-Hey, Cyclonus... If I don't... If I don't make it out of this-"

"Stop. _Now_. I'm not hearing it."

"_If_ I don't make it out, will you do a few things for me?" He sighed.

"Anything." She smiled, bringing a hand up to hold his cheek. He trapped it in place, putting his own over the top.

"M-Make sure I'm cremated, not buried. If I do offline, I want to be rid of this Primus-forsaken frame once and for all. If it wouldn't be t-too much trouble, spread the ashes around my t-team's grave markers, I'll send you the co-ordinates." He nodded.

"I'll do it. But I'm not going to have to, because you're going to survive." She laughed hoarsely.

"One m-more thing, if it's not too much t-to ask?" He waited for her to continue.

"D-Don't remember me like this. Wounded, weak, vulnerable. _Fragile_, of all things. If - on the off chance - someone ever asks you about me, tell them what I was _really_ like. And if... If you ever - oh Primus this is going to sound ridiculous - If... If you ever find yourself... Thinking about me, I am honestly _begging_ you, remember who I used to be... Remember me for who I was... before this."

He nodded again. No words could describe how he felt. How in the Pit could fate be so... _Cruel_? He couldn't tell her, not now, he didn't want that to be the very last thing on her mind.

"Why do you insist on f-fooling yourself with false h-hope that I'm going to survive this?" Her question surprised him, but his answer was quick, voice not once faltering.

"You've saved my life _twice_ now, Twilight. And... And I can do nothing to repay you." She smiled, taking his other hand with her free one.

"You're repaying me _now_. As sentimental as this sounds, I can think of few other mechs who I'd wish to spend my last moments with. You've respected me from day one, Cyclonus. You were probably the only mech at base - besides Galvatron, Soundwave and the cassettes - that didn't see me as some sort of lowly whore."

_'So,'_ Twilight thought to herself,

_'I'm never going to get to tell him after all... Geez, life sucks sometimes.'_ Then she felt it. A sudden pull on her spark, dragging her into a whole new world of pain. She couldn't stop herself from crying out.

Cyclonus' voice wasn't entirely reaching her audios, and she could tell by the faraway look in his optics that he was talking in a comm. link to someone.  
><em>'Hook, most probably. Well, not going to do much good now.' <em>She quickly contacted Soundwave.

_'Twilight.'_ He knew something was wrong.

**_'I'm afraid this is where I take my leave, old friend. Life's been a hell of a ride.'_**

_'Negative. Twilight; survive. Constructicons; repair.'_

_**'Not sure how much good that's going to do, Brother. Got a hole blown right through me. Soundwave, can I ask something of you?'**_

_'Affirmative.'_

**_'Tell... Tell Cyclonus how I feel - felt - about him. And... Tell Rumble and Frenzy not to cause too much havoc. And tell Ravage not to get caught up in their tricks. And... And tell Laserbeak and Buzzsaw not to over-energise.'_** She started to choke up, holding back tears.

**_'Primus, I love you, Brother. Just tell the cassettes I love them, too. I'll miss you all. I'll tell the trine you say hi. And if it's possible, I'll give Starscream a few hits round the head from you guys.'_** She spoke her last sentence to him in Cybertronian.

_**'Goodbye, Brother, I love and miss you all.' **_Her hand fell from Cyclonus' face-plates and the other slackened in his grip.

"No... _No_. No! Twilight, no! Stay online, _please_! Primus, if you want me to beg, I'll beg. I will get on my knees and _beg_, just please, don't take her. I am _begging_ you, Primus, _please_, don't take her from me, from Soundwave, Pit, from those moronic cassettes! _Don't_ take her." As he glanced around the room, a flash of green caught his eye. He thanked whatever higher power that was listening as he grabbed the first aid kit and contacted Hook.

_'Is there anything I can do to stem the flow of energon until you get here?'_

_'I'll talk you through it. Lift her up onto a table or berth.'_ He nodded out of habit, gently picking her up. Twilight smiled weakly. Where he was taking her, she didn't know, nor did she care. She didn't have long left, not long left at all. Her last thought sent a final warmth through her spark as her visor and optics flickered and died out.

_'I cannot think of a more fitting place to offline than in your arms. I love you, Cyclonus. Goodbye.'_

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Twilight.**


	27. From This Day Forward

**Yup, another chapter for you all. Written whilst listening to Wish I Had an Angel, Scaretale and Arabesque by Nightwish. Hope you enjoy the chapter! Reviews would be greatly appreciated!**

* * *

><p>As much as he hated being away from her side, Cyclonus understood that the Constructicons would need space to work on Twilight's repairs. He boarded Astrotrain's alt mode without a word. He didn't even turn his head when Scourge whistled.<p>

"Looks like you got hit pretty bad, Cyc." _That_ caught his attention. He sent his friend a questioning look, and the Sweep leader motioned to Cyclonus' frame. It was then that the Decepticon second in command looked down at his armour. He was _covered_ in energon. _Her_ energon. He fought the urge to purge his tanks, staring down at his hands, also covered in Twilight's life-blood.

_'Stop it, mech. Yes, she's lost a lot of energon, but the Constructicons are with her now. She'll survive this. She has to.'_

"It's not my energon." He said quickly when he realised he still hadn't replied to Scourge's remark.

"Ah, some puny Autobot try to get the drop on you?" Cyclonus sighed.

"No." Scourge looked at him, confused.

"No? Then who's is it?" Cyclonus had been denying it in his head, and he wasn't sure he was ready to admit the truth, much less out loud. He swallowed back the lump in his throat and tried to speak as if what he was saying didn't affect him.

"It's Twilight's, Scourge." A look of even deeper confusion, then pure, raw horror took over his friend's face-plates.

"But... _No_. Oh Primus, she's not-" The voice that answered his unfinished question was not Cyclonus'.

"Negative. Twilight; online." Both Decepticons turned to Soundwave in disbelief that he had spoken to them of his own accord. For the first time in his life, Cyclonus felt certain that he could read the communications mech's expression. For he felt certain that it mirrored his own.

Pure concern and fear, on the verge of desperation and panic. Neither of them were ready to lose her. In a sense, they were 'in the same boat', to use a human term. Before anyone could speak, Rumble and Frenzy popped out of Soundwave's chest compartment.

"What's goin' on, Boss?" The blue twin asked the navy mech.

"Yeah, why'd ya tell us to transform so suddenly? We weren't finished-"

"Frenzy, Rumble; desist." Galvatron suddenly stormed into Astrotrain's interior, quickly followed by the Constructions. Rumble and Frenzy looked to each-other in confusion. Long Haul and Scavenger were carrying... A stretcher? They looked around them, puzzled crimson orbs filtering through all of the mechs that were sat in a strange silence. Then it hit them. They were searching through a crowd of _mechs_.

"Twilight..." Realisation hit them about as gently as a kick from Omega Supreme and Frenzy made a move to run to the femme's side, Rumble following not a second after. Soundwave halted them, however, as the Constructicons were still operating, even as Astrotrain left ground.

"No! Let us go, Boss!"

"Rumble, Frenzy; _desist_. Transform and return. Resistance; futile." They hung their heads in defeat before doing as they were told. Cyclonus silently looked around at the others, optics searching for whatever emotions the mechs might be showing.

Scourge was still in utter disbelief and shock.

The Sweeps were huddled together muttering about something Cyclonus couldn't hear. Making bets, no doubt, about whether Twilight would pull through this or not. The very thought made Cyclonus want to offline them all.

Soundwave, well, Cyclonus couldn't be certain, but he was pretty sure the mech was still as horrified as he was.

Galvatron... Cyclonus wasn't sure he'd ever seen his leader so furious about losing a soldier. _Almost_ losing a soldier, he corrected himself. Because she was going to get through this. He _knew_ she was.

The Constructicons were still working carefully, and Cyclonus had never been so grateful for Hook being such a perfectionist. The purple mech could see a pile of Twilight's broken and dented armour that had been stripped from her frame so that the Constructicons could get to the damaged area.

Mixmaster was repairing as much of the armour as he could, Scrapper keeping an optic on her vitals. Bonecrusher and Scavenger were searching through a crate of spare parts that they carried in their subspace for field jobs. Hook was still working on her insides, Long Haul silently passing him whatever tool he needed next. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, Cyclonus noted, as Hook wasn't cursing..._ yet_.

"Frag!" The medic yelled, and Cyclonus instantly wished he hadn't spoken - or thought - too soon. Every mech was on alert.

"What? What is it?" Galvatron yelled. They all relaxed ever so slightly as they heard Hook let out a long sigh of relief.

"It's okay, false alarm. There was a hitch in her vitals, but she's back to normal now." But she wasn't 'back to normal'. If she was 'back to normal' she'd be sitting up, joking around with Scourge or talking to Soundwave. Or sitting beside Cyclonus, that crooked smile on her face-plates as they talked. Primus, was he_ ever_ going to get the chance to tell her how he felt?

_'Yes, you are, mech, because she's **not** going to offline.'_ He knew that deluding himself with false hope, as the femme herself had put it, was pointless, but he had to have something to hang onto, something to keep him going. He knew it was a sign of weakness, but he had admitted it to himself long ago, Twilight _was_ his weakness.

He would gladly swap places with her if he could. He remembered at that moment that _he_ should have been the one on that stretcher in the first place. At the last minute, she had risked her own life to save his. _Again_. Why in the Pit did she keep on doing this? Was she _trying_ to get herself offlined?

He put his head in his hands, optics turned to the floor but not really seeing. He knew what this was. This was the turning point. He could either go down the road of depression, which would likely get him offlined, or he could try and be 'optimistic' - the very word was strange and quite disturbing - and just carry on as if Twilight wasn't hanging on to life by a thread.

He then realised that Twilight wouldn't want people to grieve or pity her, no, she certainly didn't deserve to be pitied, of all things.

_"D-Don't remember me like this. Wounded, weak, vulnerable. **Fragile**, of all things. If - on the off chance - someone ever asks you about me, tell them what I was **really** like. And if... If you ever - oh Primus this is going to sound ridiculous - If... If you ever find yourself... Thinking about me, I am honestly **begging** you, remember who I used to be... Remember me for who I was... before this."_

This would be what she would want if she did offline - which she obviously wasn't going to. She certainly wouldn't want people mourning for ages - not that most Decepticons would. Despite this revelation, Cyclonus couldn't stop thinking about the fact that_ he_ was meant to be the one on the verge of offlining. He regained his composure, sharply reminding himself that Twilight would want him to carry on with his life as normal.

_'Scourge, do me a favour, would you?'_ He asked, opening a comm. link with his friend.

_'No problem, what is it?'_

_'If I ever **do** get the chance to tell her, remind me to also tell her how much of an **idiot** she is for repeatedly getting herself into these situations.'_ Scourge - not knowing about the incidents similar to this in Twilight's past - was a little confused, but he laughed it off, happy that his friend wasn't taking the fact that the object of his desire was hanging onto life by a thread _too_ hard.

_'Will do, old friend, will do.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry if anything sounds repetitive in this chapter, I couldn't really get it to flow like the others did when I wrote them.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	28. For Better or For Worse

**... And another update. Quite a lot of these are short ones, so I'm just going to try and upload them altogether, while I have some spare time. Written whilst listening to The Carpenter, Angels Fall First and Tutankhamen by Nightwish (yeah, if you haven't already guessed, I'm in a Nightwish mood... =P). Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Astrotrain's voice was quiet and cautious as he circled around in the sky.<p>

"Hey, Hook? You guys ready for me to land yet? I don't wanna touch ground and end up joltin' some repairs." Hook sighed.

"You're clear for landing, Astrotrain." The medic spoke louder, making it clear that whatever he was about to say was meant to be heard by all of the Decepticons present, not just Astrotrain.

"We've done all we can. It's up to her now." Cyclonus sighed. Surely there was something else that could be done! The second in command knew that waiting for her to awaken was going to take it's toll on him. Astrotrain landed carefully, transforming once everyone was unloaded from his alt mode.

The other Decepticons watched as the Constructicons rushed Twilight off to the med-bay. Galvatron waited until everyone else had left for their quarters and Cyclonus was the only one remaining.

"Sire, is there anything-"

"_Go_, Cyclonus. You heard Hook. There's nothing else they can do for her now. Be with her, and for once in your damn life, stay out of my sight for a while." Cyclonus nodded, surprised by his leader's words. The med-bay was empty when he arrived, and he hoped it would stay that way for a while as he all but broke down by her side.

"Primus, femme, if you can hear me... Come back. I swear to Primus I will beg if you want me to Twilight, just come back." A sudden anger took over him, and he continued to speak as if she were wide awake and listening.

"Dammit, femme! That shot was meant for me! Why the frag did you have to screw everything up with your heroics?" As soon as it had risen, his fury had subsided, and he sunk back down into the chair at her side.

"That's twice now. You've saved my life _twice_. When am I _ever_ going to get to repay you? You're a fool, saving me. I don't deserve to live... Not without you. Oh Primus, Twilight if you can hear me..." He chuckled weakly, and tried in vain to smile.

"If you _can_ hear me, chances are the first thing you'll do when you wake up is laugh at me for being such an Autobot about this whole situation." He looked around to make sure no-one had arrived during his little rant before taking her lifeless hand in his own.

"I swore to Scourge that I'd tell you something important after the raid, and then _this_ happens. I... I'll tell you anyway, just in case you can hear me." Another humourless chuckle.

"At least, if you _do_ hear this, you won't be able to hit me for it." He knew it was a horrible thing to say, but he was certain it was something she would have laughed at, and he was even _more_ certain that it was something she would have said had their roles been reversed.

_'Okay, here goes...'_

"Primus... I love you, Twilight. I love you so much. I don't know how in the fragging Pit you did it, but you changed me. From the moment I got to know you, you stole my spark. And, in a way, I hate you for that. I hate you because I know that you can never be mine, that you will never feel the same way."

"If - _when_ - you wake up, please... I don't want you to dwell on the things I've said. I suppose there was no real point in telling you, but... I suppose I felt you had a right to know, and you can hate me for my feelings as much as you like." There was a sudden crash of tools falling off of a shelf, and Cyclonus turned, mortified that another mech could have overheard his words.

But there was no-one there. And his scans of the med-bay showed no energy signatures. He turned back to Twilight, optics never leaving her beautiful, bone white face-plates. Rage coursed through him as a thought struck him out of nowhere, and he let out a low growl.

"Are you there, Thundercracker? Skywarp?" Silence.

"Oh yes, I forgot, 'the online cannot sense your presence when you visit'. I _know_ you're there. Visiting your _Sister_ one last time? Or is this more than just a visit? Are you taking her soul, her spirit, forcing her to become nothing but a ghost of the incredible femme she once was? You are, aren't you? You're just going to take her, from Soundwave, from the cassettes... From me."

"Great, now I'm going mad. There's another thing I hate you for, femme. You've literally driven me crazy. If you two _are_ there... Please, don't take her... Not yet. Just... Please... Give me a little more time with her. Just a little more... Don't take her from me, not now..." Two translucent Seekers stood in the corner of the Decepticon med-bay, listening to the purple jet's pleas.

_"C'mon TC, let's go. We'll wait until he's gone, and see Sis later."_ Thundercracker sighed.

_"This wasn't supposed to happen. Why do things always go wrong like this?"_ Skywarp shrugged.

_"Face it, TC. Life sucks, and the afterlife isn't much better half the time. Selfish as it sounds... We may be reunited with Sis far earlier than we thought. But we know Twilight better than anyone else. She's like that human mythical creature, a... A, uh... A phoenix! That's it! She's like a phoenix. She takes on the hottest of flames, and rises from the ashes of the destruction around her, stronger than ever. She'll pull through this. You'll see, TC. Ooh, that rhymes!"_

Thundercracker rolled his optics.

_"Aside from the **moronic** ending, that was probably the smartest and most inspirational thing to ever leave your vocaliser, Skywarp. Sister would be proud of her baby brother."_ They smiled at each-other.

_"Thanks, Bro."_ As they faded back to the Well of All Sparks, something clicked in Skywarp's processor.

_"Hey! What do you mean, **baby** brother?"_

* * *

><p><strong>Hehe, I love those two way too much.<strong>

****Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Twilight.****

**P.S - If any of you have figured out what the chapter title theme for the past (and the next) couple of chapters is, then you are epic.**


	29. For Richer or For Poorer

**Might have about two more up after this, I don't want to do too many in one go. Written whilst listening to Ghost River, Nemo and Planet Hell by Nightwish. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus didn't recharge. He couldn't, not knowing that he would simply have nightmares regarding the horrors he had seen on that raid. He stayed by Twilight's side, not leaving even when the Constructicons returned to check her condition.<p>

_'I don't **care** what they think, I just need her to wake up.'_ His tanks sent him a warning that he needed to energise, but he couldn't look at a cube of energon without thinking of the amount that had spilled out of her frame. The amount that was still _on his_ frame. He heard the usual hissing noise as the door to the med bay opened, and then Scourge's voice reached his audios.

"'When I 'guarantee' things, something goes horribly wrong, and an explosion is usually involved', huh?" Cyclonus bit back a growl.

"Don't _joke_ about this. Just _don't_." Scourge held up his hands in surrender.

"Hey, calm down, Cyc. She'll be fine, you know that." The purple mech shook his head.

"_Nobody_ knows that." The Sweep leader sighed.

"Well, _I do_ know that you need to drink some energon and get yourself cleaned up." The SIC shook his head.

"I can't leave her..." Scourge rolled his optics.

"Primus knows nobody's going to touch her whilst she's like this! Especially not if it means feeling Hook's - and your - wrath. Listen, I'll stay with her while you go sort yourself out." Cyclonus sighed, standing.

"...Thank you, Scourge." He left for the wash racks quickly, intending on being back by her side as soon as possible.

Scourge sat down in the now-vacant chair.

"Pit, femme, I hope you wake up soon, for your sake _and_ Cyc's." The Sweep leader sighed.

"I don't know if you can even hear me wherever you are now, but if you can... He really cares for you, Twilight. Please, just wake up. I can't even look at him while he's like this. I know, it's sounds selfish, wanting you to recover just so Cyclonus can... But I know how you feel about him. And if you don't survive... There's a good chance he won't either."

The doors to the med bay opened, and Scourge rolled his optics, expecting it to be Cyclonus. He opened his mouth to speak, but Astrotrain's voice met his audios instead of the SIC's.

"How's she doin'?" Scourge sighed, standing and facing the triple changer.

"I'm no medic, but she doesn't look good to me." Astrotrain cursed.

"Damn." Something suddenly clicked for Scourge.

_"After she dropped out of the game, there were four mechs left. Galvatron, Octane, Astrotrain, and **you**. Who do you think she's the closest to?"_

_"Astrotrain."_

"You close to her?" The grey and purple mech sighed.

"We used to work together under Megatron's rule, but I never really spoke to her much. Nobody did, apart from Soundwave, Megatron, the trine and the cassettes. But she has saved my life on more than one occasion, so it would be disrespectful not to pay her a visit." Scourge turned his optics down to the femme's face-plates.

"For a Decepticon, she sure does a lot of life-saving." Astrotrain chuckled.

"You're tellin' me. Who'd she take the hit for this time?"

"Cyclonus." Another chuckle.

"Ah, I see. Is there something... You know..." Scourge rolled his optics.

"_I_ think so, but they're both being typical, stubborn warriors. In complete denial, both of them."

"That's how it always is. Well, I'm off. If there are any changes, y'know, in her condition, let me know, would ya?"

"Sure thing." The triple changer left the med bay.

"See, femme? Even _Astrotrain's_ worried about you. You_ really_ are something else."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.<strong>

**P.S. - If you go onto YouTube, look up the G1 episode 'The God Gambit', fast-forward to a part where Astrotrain is speaking, and then focus on the ridiculously high-pitched voice that overlaps his normal one. He sounds freakin' HILARIOUS XD. **


	30. In Sickness and In Health

**Wow. This is easily the most updates I've ever done in one night. Written whilst listening to Song of Myself by Nightwish (tis a long-ass song). Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Hook sighed. He had worked tirelessly on the femme's frame for hours, and there had been many times when he thought that the damage would be beyond repair. But he had finally finished, and new plates of black and red armour covered the recently repaired circuitry. Hook and the rest of the Constructicons had quite literally done all they could, yet she remained in stasis. And nobody could calculate how long she would remain in stasis for.<p>

The medic was brought out of his musings as the med bay's doors opened and Galvatron stormed in.

"Has there been a change in her condition?" Hook silently shook his head.

"How long until she awakens?"

"I cannot be sure, sir. Like I said, it's all up to her now. She may be able to hear everything we're saying now, but cannot alert us. Right at this moment, it's hard to tell how long she'll remain like this. It could be years, at the most."

"Is it possible that she could remain like this forever?" Hook shook his head.

"If she cannot awaken, her systems will slowly shut herself down."

"So what you're saying is..."

"If she does not wake up in at least five years time, her systems will consider her 'processor-dead' and offline all her functions, eventually offlining her completely."

_'Primus, I knew she was worse for wear but this is** insane**!'_

"Leave me, Hook! I need time to think!" The medic nodded, exiting the med-bay. Galvatron stared down at the femme's face-plates.

"Why do you always do this? Cyclonus could've taken that hit, you didn't have to take it for him! You're a Decepticon, you shouldn't be sacrificing yourself!" He sighed.

"I've seen this sort of... Connection before. I was part of it. Back when I was Megatron, of course. She was a beautiful femme, smart, independant, the whole deal. But she never reciprocated my affections. The only difference is that this affection is not one-sided. I _know_ it's not." Galvatron straightened, optics narrowed.

"She broke my spark, Twilight, don't break Cyclonus'." He sighed.

"As the leader of the Decepticons, I demand that you get your aft back online and working. I don't need one of my most loyal commanders offlining, not now. We're so close to defeating the Autobots, I can almost _taste_ victory! And_ you_ are going to be one of the soldiers at my side when we reclaim Cybertron." The warlord sensed Cyclonus' energy signature nearing the med-bay.

"About time he got his aft down here, he hasn't seen you all week. As much as I appreciate his loyalty, it's fragging annoying when he's by my side every second of every day. It's almost like a disease. A disease I hope will be transferred to you when he finally grows a pair and tells you how he feels." He stood, about to leave the med-bay when Cyclonus walked in.

"Ah, my apologies, Mighty Galvatron, I can come back another time if you want privacy-"

"Silence, Cyclonus!" The SIC's mouth abruptly snapped shut. After he deemed it safe to do so, Cyclonus sat in one of the chairs by the side of the berth Twilight was laid out on. Galvatron sighed, sinking back down into the remaining chair.

"It's painful, isn't it?" The question took the second in command by surprise, and he could only utter out a quiet reply.

"I'm afraid I do not understand, sire."

"It's painful for you, waiting for her to awaken." It was a statement, not a question. And it was then that Cyclonus knew he was no longer talking to the warlord that used him as a 'personal punching bag'. No, he was talking to the small part of Galvatron's processor that still held memories of Megatron. There would be no lying in this conversation, the both of them would make sure of it.

"I do believe I am not the only one who is pained to see her in this... State." Galvatron sighed again.

"I didn't mean like that. I mean that there's a physical pain in your spark, isn't there? A physical tugging, pulling your spark in the direction of her own dull one." Cyclonus' optics widened slightly.

"How do you... Know all this?" He was now certain that he was not speaking to Galvatron. His question was left unanswered, however, as the other mech asked his own.

"You knew full well the implications of your feelings for her, did you not?" Cyclonus nodded.

"Of course I did, sire."

"And did you not understand that something like this was likely to separate you - could _still_ separate you, should she survive this only for it to happen again?"

"I understood all of this, sire. I understand that - should we ever be together - there will always be professional matters that will come first for the both of us. I understand the fact that we are in the middle of a war, and anything could happen to separate us. I understand the fact that she may not return my feelings, and I understand that she may not pull through this."

Cyclonus paused. His leader was staring out of one of the med-bay's windows intently, not meeting his SIC's optics. He continued.

"But that doesn't change the way I feel about her, sire. And it never will. You know as well as I do that what I feel for Twilight is more than just lust. Her condition is affecting my very spark. You gave me your permission to court her, Mighty Galvatron. Do I_ still_ have your permission?" After Cyclonus had silenced, he realised how long his outburst had been. He braced himself for whatever abuse he was about to receive.

_'Well, at least I'm already in the med-bay.'_ He thought dully. Galvatron stood suddenly, walking to the door. Before he left, he turned back to his loyal follower.

"Yes, Cyclonus, you still have my permission." And then he was gone. Cyclonus decided not to dwell on what had just happened. After all, it wasn't the first time Galvatron's personality had changed like this, and it probably wasn't going to be the last.

The second in command turned to the femme, talking to her about the events of his day. He didn't once notice how he had immediately and unconsciously taken her lifeless hand in his own, all the while hoping against hope that at some point, she would acknowledge his touch.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.<strong>


	31. To Love and To Cherish

**Might have one more up for you tonight, then that'll be it. Written whilst listening to Bite My Tongue and Loverboy by You Me at Six (I took a break from Nightwish XD). Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Alright bro, it's clear." Rumble climbed down from Frenzy's shoulders after they'd looked through the med-bay's window to make sure that it was empty. They all but sprinted in, hopping up onto Twilight's berth on either side of her. Frenzy was the first to make a move after that. He lent down, wrapping his arms around her neck and holding her tightly. Rumble followed suit, hugging the femme that they'd known all their lives.<p>

"Primus, Twilight, how'd ya keep gettin' yourself into messes like this!" Frenzy chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"We knew ya loved bunny-ears but we never realised ya'd do somethin' like _this_ for 'im!" They both smiled sadly down at Twilight's face-plates.

"Ya know, when ya think 'bout it... You're the closest thing we've ever really had to a mother... Well, more like... What's that human term again?" Rumble turned to his brother for help.

"Uuh... An auntie, I think."

"Thassit! You're like our auntie. And... Ya know... We don't wanna lose ya..." The red and black twin placed a hand on his blue brother's shoulder.

"Y-You'll... You'll wake up soon, right?" Frenzy couldn't believe that his voice was actually trembling.

"'Course she will, Frenz! She... She has to..." They both sighed, giving Twilight a final reassuring pat on the shoulder before turning and leaving the med-bay.

* * *

><p>Cyclonus sighed, waiting until the twins had rounded the corner before entering the med-bay. As usual, he took Twilight's hand as he sat by her side.<p>

"You've changed everyone, whether you meant to or not, Twilight. I... I just don't want you to leave, not now. It took me long enough to get to grips with the fact that I had feelings for you, I don't want to have to wrap my head around the fact that I may never see you again. Begging for you to wake up seems ineffective, so I'll just have to wait."

"If... If you _do_ offline... Primus, Twilght I don't know _what_ I'll do... I know you wouldn't want people to grieve, because that's the kind of femme you are. And I'll hazard a guess at saying that you're the only femme left that's like that. And I'm not ready to lose you yet. I _know_ you can fight this, Twilight, _please_, fight it... For me."

* * *

><p><strong>Probably the shortest chapter I've ever written. I know it seems like I just keep making Cyclonus repeat himself, so sorry about that =P.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	32. Till In Offlining Us Do Part

**Okay, so I've basically been trying to go through all of the characters that are close to Twilight, and give them a chapter each for a visit to the med-bay. This is the last one, I think. If you think I've forgotten anyone, be sure to tell me in a review or PM me! Hope you like the chapter! Written whilst listening to Lux Aeterna by Clint Mansell.**

* * *

><p>Soundwave walked slowly through the halls of the Decepticon base on Chaar. He made his way to the med-bay, ensuring that it was empty before he entered. He - like Cyclonus - took Twilight's hand in his own as he sat in the chair beside her berth. His mask pulled back audibly, and he gave his 'sister' a kiss on the cheek-plate.<p>

"How are you, Sister? I apologise for not visiting sooner, I feel as though I have - to use your words - neglected you. But I'm not losing you, Twilight, not just yet. We're the only ones left. Out of the five, carefree younglings that met each-other at pre-school and academy, we're the only two left. It's hard to believe, especially when you look back at everything we all lived through."

"Look at you, Twilight! How many times have you stared Primus in the face and told him that it wasn't your time? You've done it before, Sister, and I have faith that you can do it again. I believe in you, Sister, and I know that you can fight whatever force is keeping you from us. I know you can. Besides, it's as you once said to me. They'd have nowhere to put you. Primus doesn't want you, and Unicron would be afraid that you'd take over."

Soundwave smiled slightly in a vain attempt to lighten things up. He couldn't believe it. As his optics - still protected by that impenetrable visor - searched his sister's form for any sort of movement, he took in her appearance. Hook and the others had cleaned her up after her repairs, and her armour was practically spotless.

Those stunning jet black plates of armour with sharp, bold red markings shone more than ever. Her bone white face-plates were void of any emotion, mouth neither curled upward in that cocky smirk or crooked smile, nor curled downward in a scowl or frown. He noticed that her visor was still down, yet, of course, offline. He reached over and gently pushed her visor up, leaving her offlined optics to give the illusion that she was just in recharge. He smiled sadly once more.

"I passed on your messages to the cassettes. Rumble and Frenzy were close to tears, not that they'll ever admit it. Buzzsaw and Laserbeak went out for patrol with Ravage as soon as I told them what you'd said. They're all going to miss you. Just another reason for you to stay online."

Soundwave sensed the Constructicons' energy signatures nearing the med-bay, and stood to leave. He bent down to place another kiss on Twilight's cheek-plate before his mask snapped back in place.

Long Haul entered the med-bay just in time for Soundwave to walk past him and out into the corridor. The Constructicons just looked at each-other before eventually shrugging it off. Hook walked over to check Twilight's vitals, moving the sensor on the end of the monitor's wire to the other side of her spark. As he did, her vitals peaked suddenly. They continued to raise for a while before staying level.

The Constructicons stared at the femme for a moment. Was she waking up? They continued to watch her frame for any tell tale signs of consciousness before Hook sighed.

"This is the turning point for her now. Her vitals will either continue to rise until she awakens, or they'll suddenly plummet and her systems will begin the offlining process. We won't be able to do _anything_ for her then." The medic spoke mostly to himself.

He knew that his fellow Constructicons already knew this. But, despite what the six of them had tried to do to her during her first few months on Chaar, she'd grown on all of them. That combined with the fact that Galvatron would have their afts in a smelter the moment she flat-lined meant that they had been doing everything they could to wake the femme up since day one. Hook sighed again, straightening.

"Mixmaster, Scrapper, go inform Galvatron of the change in her condition. Long Haul, Scavenger, go inform Soundwave. Someone's going to have to watch her for a while and I'm sure he would be willing. Bonecrusher, keep track of her vitals while I go search up something." The Constructicons all nodded, going off to do their respective jobs.

Hook returned to his quarters, searching through every datapad he owned that could suggest anything to speed up Twilight's recovery. The search was fruitless, however, and he sighed, making his way to his berth and all but falling onto it with a_** 'thud'**_. Only a single thought wandered around his processor as he went into recharge.

_'Why do **I** have to be chief medic?'_

* * *

><p><strong>Hope I didn't worry any of you with the title. I had to continue with the theme. This is it from me for tonight, hope you enjoyed!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	33. I Do

**Sorry I didn't put this up sooner. Maths is being a biatch (isn't it,_ NiceBeans_?). Anyway, written whilst listening to The Humbling River by Puscifer (really lovin' that song at the min ^_^), Elvenpath by Nightwish and Evil Angel by Breaking Benjamin. Thanks to TheLoveDov for reviewing =)! On with the chapter! **

* * *

><p>The peak in Twilight's vitals was not to last.<p>

They had not plummeted, and she had not offlined, as the Constructicons had expected, but her condition had slowly deteriorated until it had reached the level that it was before. Cyclonus was sat by her side when Hook walked in.

It was pretty clear to almost everyone at base now how the SIC felt about the femme. Hook almost felt a sense of pity as he saw Twilight's hand clasped in Cyclonus', and the medic knew that the second in command hoped for her to wake up more than anybody at base, perhaps with the exception of Soundwave.

"Cyclonus."

"Hook."

"It's been_ a month_, Cyclonus. And it could be another month. And _another_. Pit, it could be _fifty-nine_ months before we finally end up seeing a change in her condition! I think it's time to finally accept that-"

"_You_ saw a change. You _saw_ a change in her condition."

"Yes, Cyclonus, and did it last?" The purple mech stayed silent, optics never leaving Twilight's face-plates. The medic sighed.

"Listen, I'll go and consult with Galvatron. No doubt he'll deny it, just like you have, but-"

"Watch your mouth, Hook." The Constructicon wasn't at all fazed. Nobody reacted as strongly to Cyclonus' sharp tone as they used to. Some regarded him with pity, but none with amusement. He was a broken mech, and they all knew it, yet they also knew _why_.

And - whether it was from experience or simply hearing stories of it - every mech at base understood how it felt to lose a loved one. Even Swindle wasn't _that _low, to laugh at a mech who had lost the femme he loved, though most wouldn't put it past him.

"Like I said, I'll go and consult with Galvatron. It's his decision at the end of the day, professional or not. But Cyclonus, I think it would be best if you started to expect the inevitable." And with that said, the medic was gone. Cyclonus sighed, leaning forward so his and the unconscious femme's foreheads touched.

"Primus, Twilight, _please_ wake up. I... I need you." He sat back in his chair again, watching her vitals scrawl across the monitor's screen. He squeezed her hand softly, and then something happened that made his energon freeze in his fuel lines.

It was weak, it was faint, but he definitely felt it.

She had squeezed back.

He stood, leaning over her frame, optics glued to her face-plates.

"Twilight?" He whispered. "Are you there?" Her vitals started to rise slowly.

_'Hook! I think she's waking up! Get your aft back here **now**!'_ The SIC knew he was probably getting his hopes up, but for the moment, he didn't care. All of a sudden, the femme's vitals rapidly rose before her optics onlined and she took in a huge gasp of air.

She was panicky. Her breathing was heavy, and she was looking around frantically. Her hand closed around the wire attached to her spark, intending to rip it off, but Cyclonus' hand folded over hers, preventing the action. The mech flinched at the utter fear in Twilight's optics as her head whipped round to face him.

"Hey, hey, calm down. It's just me." She was still breathing heavily, and her spark-rate had skyrocketed.

"C-Cyclonus... I... I-" Without thinking, the mech brought his hands up to caress her face-plates.

"It's_ fine_, Twilight. You just need to calm down. Take a few deep breaths, okay?" He couldn't believe it. His spark was doing somersaults of joy inside it's casing.

She was_ online_.

She had fought her way back. Cyclonus then realised where his hands were, and quickly moved them to hold her wrists. Once again, she flinched at his touch, gentle as it was. He frowned. Something wasn't right here.

"W-Where am I?" Her voice cut through his thoughts, and he answered her.

"You're in the med bay at base." She looked thoughtful for a moment, before her optics locked with his again.

"...On Chaar?" He nodded hesitantly.

"Yes, on Chaar." She was silent for a while. Cyclonus didn't miss how she jumped slightly when Hook walked in.

"Primus, femme! Thank the lord you're online! Galvatron would've had _my_ head for a doorstop, never mind Ultra Magnus', if you'd have offlined." The medic walked over to her, and she smiled slightly.

"Haven't lost your sense of humour while I've been out then, Hook?" He laughed, shaking his head.

"Of course I haven't." After checking to make sure she was stable, Hook called Cyclonus out into the hallway.

"She probably doesn't remember much of the couple of hours before the blast hit her. Don't worry, her memory will return. It'll take twelve hours, at the most. She may be slightly nauseous, so don't freak out if she purges. And please for the love of Primus, get her to _stay down_ for a while. Just whilst I make sure everybody gets word of her recovery." Cyclonus nodded, returning to the femme.

Twilight coughed slightly, trying to sit herself up. The SIC helped her, and she shook off the initial dizziness before questioning him.

"How long have I been out for?" Cyclonus sighed.

"A month." She groaned.

"A _month_? Primus!" She coughed again, before covering her hand with her mouth and leaning over to the other side of the berth. She made that same motion for the mech beside her to look away as she purged her tanks into a waste bucket. When she lifted herself back up, she refused to meet optics with Cyclonus.

"What... What actually _happened_ out there? All I can remember is clearing the communications centre so Soundwave could hack into the system... And then I was running somewhere... After that, I've got nothing." He sighed. She remembered _nothing_? Great.

"You were running because you decided to play the role of the heroic idiot. You... You took a bullet for me." She looked shocked.

"I did, did I?" It all came back to her then.

"Oh... I remember now... You weren't hurt, were you?" He frowned again.

"Why in the _Pit_ are you worried about_ me_? You almost _offlined_, Twilight! For _once_ in your life can you just stop worrying about other people and have at least a _sliver_ of regard for your own spark?" She winced.

"I...I guess you didn't_ want_ me to save you then?" She assumed, smiling crookedly.

_'Primus, femme, you can be so **infuriating**!'_ He took her hands in his.

"Twilight, you _know_ I didn't mean it like that. I'm extremely grateful that you saved my life. I... I just wish you'd stop throwing yourself into the fire for others." She smiled.

"Well,_ someone's_ got to keep you from getting your aft kicked." She laughed as he growled at her.

"You know, just because you've just woken up from stasis doesn't mean I don't have the right to kick your head in." Her laughter escalated and soon enough he was chuckling along with her.

* * *

><p>"So, do you remember everything from before the blast now?" Cyclonus asked. She nodded.<p>

"Everything up until I went into stasis." He frowned for a moment.

"Do you... Do you by any chance remember anything anyone said to you _whilst_ you were in stasis? Nobody could be sure whether you could hear us or not." She raised an optic ridge.

"You guys visited me? You_ talked_ to me? Wow... I appreciate the sentiment, I really do, but I didn't hear a word. Did anybody want to tell me something important?" He sat in silence for a moment.

_'Tell her...'_

_'**No**. She's just woken up from a month in stasis, for crying out loud! Now is **not** the time. It can wait.'_ He shook his head.

"No, nothing really." She smiled softly. Tears were threatening to pool in her optics. Did they actually care _that_ much? She blinked back the tears, rolling her optics inwardly.

_'Stop it, femme! You're a Decepticon!'_ She smiled slightly, and then the med bay's doors flung open. Buzzsaw, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Ravage and Rumble all burst through the doors, crowding around the femme. Cyclonus smiled sadly.

He wondered whether the reason she was so close to them all was because she wanted a sparkling of her own. She'd been with them all since their creation, and the mech would never be able to understand what kind of connection she had with them.

From what he'd heard, Twilight had played a huge part in helping Soundwave raise the cassettes. How that must have felt, wanting a sparkling so badly and then helping raise_ five_ that weren't hers, Cyclonus couldn't even begin to imagine.

_'I have to go.'_ He spoke through a private comm. to her as she fussed over Ravage and returned Frenzy's embrace. She looked up at him for a moment, and what he thought looked like sadness glittered in her optics. She put on that familiar crooked smile, and waved him off.

**_'No problem. See you later, I guess.'_ **As he walked to the door, he spoke again before quickly severing the link.

_'Comm. me if you need anything... It's good to have you back, Twilight.'_ He walked out the door before she could respond. Leaning back and letting Buzzsaw and Laserbeak get comfortable resting on her stomach, a genuine smile wriggled onto her face-plates.

_'It's good to **be** back, Cyclonus, it truly is.'_

* * *

><p><strong>And I end the chapter with some super clich<strong>é<strong> dialogue! YAY! *face-palm* Sorry guys, inspiration for the ending was at an all time low (fit band ;]). Hope you enjoyed!**

******************Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.******************


	34. Goodbye

**I should have put this up last night, Transformers: Prime is my only excuse, I'm really hooked on it (you can probably be expecting some sort of Knock Out/OC story soon, since I've found a new victim XD). Anyway, written whilst listening to Evil Angel by Breaking Benjamin and the TF:Prime opening theme by Brian Tyler. Thank you to TheLoveDov for reviewing! On with the chapter then!**

* * *

><p>It had been a month since Twilight had woken up, and she was back to her usual self. Sighing, she hauled herself off of her berth. Today was the day. Wiping a few tears from her optics, she put on a smile and left her room.<p>

She stood outside Cyclonus' quarters for what seemed like forever before eventually knocking on the door. Why did she have to do this?_ How_ was she _going_ to do this?

"Twilight? Are you okay?" She looked up from the floor to see Cyclonus staring at her with a somewhat concerned look.

"O-Oh, sorry, yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you want to come in?" He held the door open wider, and she tried to smile.

"Y-yeah, okay, thank you." She followed him into his quarters slowly. The room looked a lot like hers, apart from the fact that it was a little larger and had a console built into the wall. She turned her head to the floor, willing the tears not to fall.

"Twilight, what's wrong?" She sighed, looking up but continuing to avert his gaze.

"N-Nothing, I'm fine." He frowned.

"No you're not, you're _shaking_." She was. Her knees were knocking together and her whole frame was practically rattling.

"D-Do you mind if I sit down?" He shook his head.

"Not at all, take a seat." She all but collapsed on his berth. The mech was definitely concerned now. What did she have to say that was upsetting her so much?

"Have you come here to tell me some bad news?" He asked tentatively, sitting by her side and placing a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head.

_'Why is this so hard?'_

"I came to say goodbye, actually." She met his optics then, hoping to Primus that her smile wouldn't falter.

"You... You what?" She _what_?

_"**Tell** Galvatron then! He's bound to be getting rid of me soon anyway!"_

_"Earlier, she said I 'wasn't going to be seeing her for much longer'."_

No. Oh,_ no_. Why? She said she _wasn't_ giving him bad news!

_'Tell her now, before it's too late!'_ Her optics were dim with what he was positive was sadness, but she tried to keep smiling at him.

"My contract is up. I was supposed to stay here for a year, and I have."

_'What? Where in the Pit is she going to **go**? She can't leave, not now! Not after everything that's happened!'_

"Can't you renew this 'contract'?" She rose an optic ridge at his tone.

"I could try, but I think Galvatron wants me back in Iacon as soon as possible." He forced down a shudder at the mention of the city.

"Right, and you're just going to go back there like you _weren't_ almost offlined in that damn city? I'll talk to Galvatron, and see if-" She sighed.

"Cyclonus, it's fine. Iacon... I belong there. I've messed up so much since I was stationed here." Cyclonus stood pacing in front of her. She sighed again.

"I almost got you offlined, Cyclonus." He gave her an incredulous look, temper starting to rise.

"Cut the scrap, Twilight! You've saved my life _twice_! I can't... You _can't_ leave." Her optic ridge rose again. This was what she wanted. Someone to protest, beg her to stay. But at the same time, she didn't _need_ this right now. All Cyclonus was doing was giving her the illusion that she could stay, when they both knew full well that nothing they would say to Galvatron would sway him. She laughed.

"Cyclonus, I _have_ to. Believe me, I don't _want_ to. Galvatron's orders, I'm afraid. If he ever needs me back here, you can be sure that I'll leap at the offer." She giggled before adding.

"Besides, it gets lonely down at Iacon now that my team are gone. I'll ask Galvatron if I can take you with me, yes?" She giggled again, standing.

Twilight smiled sadly at him. He smiled back.

"Well, this is it then." He sighed, and she laughed once more.

"This is only goodbye, Cyclonus. It sure as the Pit isn't farewell. We'll see each-other again, sooner or later."

_'Then I sincerely hope it's sooner.'_

"Besides, _someone's_ got to save you from getting your aft kicked." He faked a scowl.

"I was holding up just fine before _you_ came along!" She laughed.

"Well, I'd better do the rounds then. I'll be seeing you, Cyclonus." He nodded as she made for the door.

"Take care of yourself, Twilight." She slipped out of the door. Little did they know, the same thought was cycling through both of their processors.

_'I love you.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Believe it or not, things are picking up a bit now <em>=)<em>.**

**Disclaimer:********** I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.************


	35. Challenge

**Hello! I am currently stuck in my house because of all the fragging snow that arrived last night XD. The dog's loving it, so I guess that's a good thing. Oh, and it could mean snow days, which means more updates! Anyway, written whilst listening to Galdon, Red Eye King, Drakor, Test of Scales, Andross and Sharp Claws from the StarFox Adventures OST (Nostalgia for the win! ...And now I really want to play it XD). Thank you to _TheLoveDov_ and _Misery's Prescription_ for reviewing, and thank you to _Amkano_ for faving the story! Roll on with the next chapter then!**

* * *

><p>The Decepticons stationed on Chaar now knew why Galvatron had wanted all that extra energon. There was another 'party' planned, a little send off for Twilight. It was going well, and the makeshift ring in the centre of the room had been made again. Twilight was once again seated beside Cyclonus. The two sat in silence, occasionally cheering on a competitor in the ring.<p>

"Twilight." The femme turned to look at Galvatron, nodding and standing. Cyclonus knew what she was doing.

_'Primus, femme, **again**?'_ She made her way into the centre of the ring.

"The offer from when I first arrived still stands. Defeat me, and you can take me out for a few cubes of high grade. But this time, as an added bonus, courtesy of the ever-generous Lord Galvatron, if one of you defeats me, I'll stay stationed on Chaar."

Cyclonus almost choked on his energon. But his spark sank when he quickly realised that nobody would take up the challenge. Nobody could defeat her. Only Galvatron, and perhaps Soundwave. But neither of them were taking up her challenge, otherwise they would have done so already. Cyclonus sighed. It was hopeless.

* * *

><p>Soundwave was waiting. Waiting to put his and his sister's plan into action. If no-one accepted her challenge, then <em>he<em> would. They used to spar together when they were younglings, and their skills were equal. They'd stage it so that he won, and they'd make it look believable. But Soundwave was hoping a certain someone else would take up the challenge, as were Galvatron and Scourge.

_'Come on, Cyc, figure it out already!'_

_'Frag it, Cyclonus, do I have to spell it out for you?'_

_'Come **on**, Cyclonus!'_ Twilight sighed.

_**'Alright, Brother. Time to put our plan into action.'**_ Before Soundwave could respond, another mech did.

"I accept your challenge." Everybody's heads turned. Twilight suppressed a gasp.

"_Cyclonus_?" Her shock was soon forgotten as that smirk made itself known on her face-plates and her visor flipped down.

"Oh, this _will_ be fun." The three mechs remaining on the head table all sighed with relief, smirks of their own soon appearing.

"This'll be an entertaining fight." Galvatron nodded.

"Indeed it will." Cyclonus stepped into the ring. The two met in the middle and shook hands.

"I trust you realise that whilst I may have told you my strategy when we first met, you don't know_ all_ my tricks." He smirked.

"And I trust _you_ realise that I'm not going to go easy on you, whether you saved my life or not." She laughed.

"This will be a battle no Decepticon present will be likely to forget." He nodded.

"Indeed." They smirked at each-other as they circled the ring. Oh yes, all Decepticons would remember this battle for as long as they lived.

* * *

><p><strong>Who saw <em>that<em> coming XD? You have _no_ idea how long that idea's been eating my brain for! So glad I finally got down to writing it!**

****Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.****


	36. Fight

**Couldn't resist putting another up tonight! I don't think I've ever been so excited to put up a chapter before XD. Written whilst listening to Wishing Well, I Miss You and All The Small Things by Blink-182. Thank you to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing! Oh, and I'm warning you now, I'm probably the worst writer of fight scenes that you'll ever come across, so don't get too excited =|. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight smirked, running up the wall and kicking off the ceiling, landing on Cyclonus' back. The mech growled as she tore her claw blades through one of his wings. He knew instantly why she had done it. It wasn't <em>just<em> to cause damage. His alt mode was near enough useless now.

The jet grabbed her by the forearm, ripping her from his frame and flinging her across the 'ring', just managing to dodge those lethal claw blades as she swung her arm down dangerously close to his face-plates.

Once he had recovered from his dodge, he looked around only to see that the femme was nowhere in sight. He smirked, subspacing his blaster. She swung down from the ceiling, kicking out as he stepped forward.

He spun round, energy bullet hitting her in the shoulder. She growled, wrapping her legs around his neck and throwing him away. She stood in a defensive stance, claw blades glinting dangerously in the spotlight that the cassette twins had turned on over the ring. Her mask slid on soundlessly, visor brightening.

"How long do you think this'll go on for?" Scourge asked Galvatron. The warlord shrugged.

"They're equals in combat, it will be a while before one shows signs of weakening. They have the stamina for it. It is as you said Scourge, this will be an entertaining fight." The Sweep leader nodded. Rumble, Frenzy and Swindle had already started making their way across the tables, asking mechs to place bets.

Soundwave's hidden optics never left the makeshift ring. This was not an ordinary duel. It looked more like... A _dance_. The two were moving in perfect sync. Their movements were elegant, but not lacking in power. Each dodge and each blow... Perfect synchronisation... These two were soul mates, no doubt was left in Soundwave's mind about that.

Cyclonus' foot hit home, smacking into Twilight's stomach audibly. She laughed it off, getting in close enough range to slice across his arm with her claw blades. He growled, but his expression soon changed into a smirk. Twilight realised the error she had made. She'd gotten too close and not backed away in time, and she soon found herself in his grip.

She struggled for a moment before becoming still. He sighed, his lips so close to her audios that she could feel his breath on her neck. She thanked Primus that she'd put on her mask, so no-one could see the blush threatening to rise on her cheeks.

"Surely you're not giving up _already_, femme. How... _Disappointing_." She smirked, bracing herself before twisting her arms and ramming her claw blades deep into Cyclonus' shoulders. He grit his dentals and bit back a yell.

"Not on your life, mech." He smirked.

"Good, glad to see you've still got _some_ fight left in you." She laughed.

"Oh, I'm _far_ from finished, Cyclonus, trust me on _that_." Their optics brightened as they clashed in the middle of the ring once more. Neither wanted to do too much damage to each-other, not that it showed. Cyclonus knew that Twilight was at a slight disadvantage. As far as he knew, she had no firearms of any sort, which meant that she had to get close enough to use her claw blades to cause damage.

Cyclonus had a wider range of attacks. Yet he knew that the femme was not outmatched by him, having only lost a battle once despite this 'disadvantage', so he continued to tread carefully. Pain registered in his processor as she managed to slice through his other wing.

He let out a snarl, grabbing her wrist. She flinched at the strength of his grip. Blood red met even darker crimson as they locked optics in a fiery glare. She smirked again beneath her mask. Moving her leg in a graceful, curving arc low to the ground, she literally swept him off his feet. He used his thrusters to regain his balance before he hit the floor.

Rumble, Frenzy and Swindle had all taken their seats, not wanting to remove their optics from the fight to take in bets, just in case they missed something. The whole army was silent, save for the two warriors singing the song of battle in the ring. All Decepticons seemed to realise at that moment that, as incredible as it was, this could not last forever.

There would have to be a victor sooner or later. The very thought shook all the mechs to their cores. Which one of them was going to do just that little fraction of extra damage that would finish the fight? It was hard to tell. Even harder, it seemed, for the two soldiers that were fighting.

Soundwave's optics brightened slightly as he realised that Twilight had completely abandoned the plan. She wasn't going to _let_ Cyclonus win, as she would have done with her brother. No, this was an honourable, fair fight between two of the most skilled Decepticons that the faction had ever been prided with.

Soundwave knew that wherever his brothers were, they were watching this. He knew the trine, and he knew them well. A fight like this was too good to miss, to use Skywarp's terminology.

The communications mech was brought out of his musings when an energy blast tore straight through Twilight's lower leg. He forced back a chuckle when he heard Hook groan.

"Not the fragging leg again! For Primus' sake!" The silence had dissipated then, with everyone cheering for who they wanted to win, or, most likely, who they had decided to bet on in their drunken stupor. Soundwave, as expected, maintained his silence, watching the two fight ruthlessly, yet gracefully. It had to end sometime, and he knew he wouldn't be the only one that would be disappointed when it did.

* * *

><p><strong>Told you I suck.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	37. Victory

**Didn't want to keep you guys waiting too long =). Written whilst listening to The Humbling River by Puscifer and Rest Calm and Song of Myself by Nightwish. Thank you to _TheLoveDov_ and_ Screamer's girl_ for reviewing, and thanks to _UnForGettable323_ for faving this story and putting it on your alert list! I don't think I have anything else to say, so, on with the chapter!**

**P.S. - If there are any mistakes, I apologise in advance, I'm not exactly feeling too great and probably shouldn't be sitting in front of a computer screen, so this has only been proof-read halfheartedly =P.**

* * *

><p>It was coming to an end. Bloodied and battered, Twilight and Cyclonus faced each-other at opposite ends of the ring. They were both covered in gashes and leaking a steady trail of energon. Twilight removed her mask.<p>

"Surely you're not giving up_ now_?" He chuckled.

"Don't count on_ that _for a second." She grinned wickedly. The three 'entrepreneurs' had started taking in credits for bets again, finding a way around the tables that ensured that their optics didn't leave the fight.

All Decepticons froze as Twilight swung a perfectly-aimed punch at Cyclonus, only to have him meet it with his own fist. He winced as her claw blades cut deep into his hand, but didn't lose sight of his plan. Without giving the femme time to react, he drove his fist down towards the floor with so much force that her claw blades snapped. They _snapped_. She flinched, but stayed silent.

Shaking his hand, three sharp pieces of metal fell out of the gouges she had left, her claw blades now reduced to useless little stumps. Once again, quicker than anyone could react, Cyclonus used his other hand to grab her remaining set of blades. The razor sharp weapons sliced into the thinner armour of his palm, but he did not relent until he had snapped the other three.

Twilight growled, wrenching away from his grip, warnings blaring all over her processor. She sheathed what was left of her claw blades, watching as Cyclonus raised his hand and dropped the three blades to the floor.

Sighing, she held back a smile. She had fought with all she had, and he had defeated her. For the first time in her life, she had been beaten at her own game. But of course, she had to show the damn mech that her blades weren't her only means of causing damage.

So, to everyone's surprise, the fight continued, but only for a moment. True, Twilight had different styles of attacking other than her claw blades, but she was greatly hindered without them, and the pain emanating from where they once were was too strong to ignore. She soon found herself on the floor, Cyclonus' foot placed firmly across her neck.

"_Now_ do you yield?" She scowled at him, reaching into her subspace to pull something out. Thinking it was a weapon of some sort, he subspaced his own and aimed it at her arm. But, to everyone's shock, she pulled out a white cloth, that quickly became soaked with energon. Sighing with a crooked smile, she spoke up.

"_Yes_, Cyclonus, I yield." He couldn't believe it. He'd done it. He'd _actually_ fragging _done _it. The crowd was silent and still as neither warrior moved for a moment. Cyclonus eventually lifted his foot and held out a hand to help her up. With that same crooked smile, she accepted his help, allowing him to pull her to her feet. She spoke to the crowd, surprised that she could even find a voice loud enough to address them all.

"Decepticons! Cyclonus has defeated me in single combat! Rules are rules, therefore I am staying stationed on Chaar!" The crowd cheered, chanting the names of the two soldiers. Twilight laughed.

"And may I just say, I am fragging _grateful_ that that _wasn't_ a fight to the death!" The Decepticons laughed along with her. She walked back into the ring, picking up the six slivers of sharp metal that were once attached to the backs of her hands.

After Frenzy, Rumble and Swindle had finished sorting the credits - and probably keeping more than they gave the winner - Twilight and Cyclonus shook hands, bowing slightly to each-other as a sign of respect. It wasn't long before Hook ushered them out to the med-bay, and Soundwave sighed to himself.

_'Don't get cold feet now, Sister.'_

* * *

><p>After Scavenger had finished welding Twilight's claw blades back in place, and Hook was absolutely <em>certain<em> that the repairs would hold, the two soldiers left the med bay. They were stuck in an awkward silence as they walked back to their quarters. Cyclonus was the one to break it.

"Apologies for the damage to your blades." She sent him an incredulous look, giggling slightly.

"Why are you apologising? The whole point of the match is to cause as much damage as you can so that you come out as the victor." He sighed.

"I know, but... Looking back on it, it seemed a little... Unnecessary." She laughed again.

"Don't worry about it, it was impressive. No-one's ever thought of that before." He sighed again.

Why was she _praising_ him for causing her pain? He would never understand this femme. Her visor flipped up and she smiled at him. Cyclonus hadn't noticed until then that they'd reached their quarters.

"Well, I'll see you later. If you want to comm. me the time that you want us to go out, I'll make sure I'm free." His optics widened and he stammered for a moment before finally getting his words out.

"You were being _serious_ about that?" She laughed at his reaction.

"Yes, Cyclonus, I was. Okay, so maybe at the time I wasn't, because - narcissistic as it sounds - I didn't expect to be defeated, but rules are rules." A slightly sheepish look took over her face-plates.

"Unless, of course... You don't want to, then that's fine." He shook his head frantically.

"No! I didn't mean it like _that_! Umm... How about tomorrow evening, around eight?" She nodded, sending a crooked smile his way.

"Sure thing, I'll meet you at the base entrance." He nodded.

"See you then." She shut the door to her quarters after her, leaning back onto it. Sighing, she smiled.

"I can't wait."

* * *

><p><strong>And it's all coming together nicely so far (I think XD)!<strong>

****Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.****


	38. Waiting

**Hey guys! I don't want to start this chapter off on a bad note, but I have something I want to say, just to get it over with. Now, I'm not gonna start with the whole "I'm not putting up the next chapter until I get [insert-number-here] reviews!" because I don't think that's the right way of going about it. I would, however, like a bit more feedback, if that's okay. I think there's just over ten of you who've faved/subscribed to this story, and I've only got feedback from about half of you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ungrateful, and I don't want more reviews just so that I feel like my story's more 'popular', I genuinely want to know what you guys think of the story, and if there are any parts you think I can improve on. Please, don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to have a betch-fest. I understand that some of you may not have the time to review, I do. But if you do have the time, just leave a review so that I know that you still enjoy this. Thanks for putting up with my nonsense, if you didn't just scroll down to where the chapter starts XD. Didn't actually listen to anything whilst writing this =O. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus busied himself with paperwork after getting Galvatron's permission to take an early leave in the evening. Flipping up a small panel of armour on his wrist, he looked at the clock on it's screen. Four-thirty. Could this day go any slower? He hadn't seen Twilight all day, either. Whether that was a blessing or a curse he wasn't sure.<p>

He _wanted_ to see her, even if it was just in the form of her passing through the control room, not paying him any attention. But on the other hand, he thought that waiting until later tonight was a good option, as he knew he wouldn't be able to get his words out properly around her at the moment.

* * *

><p>Galvatron looked over to his second in command with amusement. The mech had been checking the time every five minutes. The warlord chuckled, strolling over to the jet. Cyclonus heard the footsteps, and his head whipped around. His spark sank just a little as he saw that it was Galvatron standing next to him.<p>

"Return to your quarters, Cyclonus. You obviously cannot concentrate in here, and I'm sure you want to smarten yourself up for tonight, don't you?" Cyclonus sighed. He hadn't told Galvatron_why_ he had requested an early leave, but he should have known that his leader would have figured him out. The tall jet knew that lying was always a bad option when it came to Galvatron. Every mech did. So, he didn't even try.

"...Yes, Mighty Galvatron. Thank you." The mech chuckled.

"No need to look so embarrassed, Cyclonus. If I didn't want you to go out with Twilight tonight, then I wouldn't have let you." Cyclonus nodded, bowing slightly, but the darker purple mech could still sense doubt radiating off of his SIC.

"And don't think for a second that Twilight doesn't... 'like' you. If she didn't, she would have shoved her 'rules' down your throat, using her blades." Cyclonus shuddered at the thought. He knew that his Lord wasn't exaggerating. Galvatron's mood switched in an instant.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get out of here! _Now_!" The purple jet nodded and picked up the reports he had left to fill out.

* * *

><p>Five-thirty. Five-thirty-five. Five-forty. The day was dragging. Every time Twilight's name came up in a report - which was <em>often<em> - Cyclonus couldn't help but picture that crooked smile of hers. Sighing, he signed the report and added it to the stack that he had finished.

Reaching for another from the opposite end of the desk without looking, his hand patted the desk's surface for a short while until he realised that he was finished. He had_ finally_ finished. Relief overwhelming him, he looked at his internal watch. Six o'clock. He groaned.

Two hours of _nothing_. He could go and knock on Twilight's door to see if she was in, but he was still faced with the fact that he wasn't exactly ready to face _her_ yet. He could call Scourge, but there was a high possibility that he'd end up regretting _that_ decision. Thus, he was left with nothing to do. Very rarely did Cyclonus find himself bored. Boredom was not something he had to relieve himself of often.

He did as Galvatron said and went to the wash racks, cleaning his frame. He double-checked a few extremely important reports, tweaking a few things here and there. After that, he found himself - much to his disliking - completely and utterly bored. He sighed.

"Dammit, time, go faster." He dully noted that that was probably the most _idiotic_ sentence to _ever_ leave his vocaliser.

Well, maybe there _was_ a bit of Skywarp in him after all.

* * *

><p>When eight o'clock <em>did<em> come around, it was as if it couldn't have come quicker. Cyclonus raced out of his quarters and down the hallways of Chaar's base. He almost knocked over a few mechs on his way out, but the Decepticon cared not. He just had to get to the entrance. To his surprise, _rejection_ of all things started gnawing at his spark when he found the entrance to the base silent. Not a single soul was there but him.

_'Would you calm yourself down, mech? Maybe she's just running a little late. She can't have... Forgotten... No, we only set a time last night! Unless... She backed out.'_ No sooner had he thought that than his audios picked up the sound of rapid footsteps and his sensors showed Twilight's energy signature. The object of his desire soon rounded the corner, panting heavily. Head snapping up, Twilight's optics locked with Cyclonus' own amused ones.

"I am _so_ sorry, Cyclonus! I didn't keep track of time and then I was running late and-" He laughed slightly.

"Calm down, Twilight. It's fine, I only just got here." He saw a frown try to pull at her face-plates.

"_No_, I am not lying." She smiled crookedly, and he motioned towards the sky.

"Well..."

"You choose where we go, part of the rules." He rolled his optics, but the smile on his face-plates gave his mood away.

"I know just the place. Are you ready to head out?" She nodded, still smiling.

"After you."

* * *

><p><strong>I just realised how short my chapters seem to be getting. I'll work on making them longer.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	39. Cybertron

**Sorry this took so long. I was away visiting my dad again, which meant a week with no internet apart from the 3G on my phone, which, unfortunately, I can't upload chapters on. I did leave a note on my profile, but I forgot to mention it in the author's note of last chapter. Probably because I was ranting about lack of feedback. Sorry about that, I apologise if I sounded like a whiny betch. Anyway, this chapter was written whilst listening to Rolling in the Deep, Turning Tables and Someone Like You by Adele. Thanks to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing! Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**P.S. - I think the title of this ruined the 'surprise' of where they were going XD. Sorry, couldn't think of anything else.**

* * *

><p>The two Decepticons hadn't been flying for long when they stopped on a random, acid green coloured moon. Twilight rose an optic ridge.<p>

"We're staying _here_?" Cyclonus rolled his optics.

"No, we're _stopping_ here." She nodded, but the confused look didn't leave her face-plates.

"Uhh... _Why_ exactly are we stopping here?" Cyclonus sighed.

"Because you need to rest." She rolled her optics, and groaned inwardly.

_'How did he even pick that up? I was hiding it so well this time!'_ She sighed.

"Alright, I'm a little dizzy, but I'm not in desperate need of a break." He rose an optic ridge.

"Cyclonus... I just want one night where I don't have to worry about anything. I don't want to have to stop or slow down because of my disability. Whether you agree with me or not, it ruins my night, so can we just drop it, please?" He sighed.

"I did not mean to upset you, my apologies. We will continue, its not that far away anyway." She sighed back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make a big deal out of it." He shook his head.

"Its fine. Are you ready to go?" She nodded, and they took off again.

* * *

><p>About an hour later, Cyclonus transformed from his alt mode and stopped, causing Twilight to follow suit.<p>

"Something wrong?" He shook his head.

"Cloak your signature and follow me." She frowned. Were there Autobots that she had yet to detect? Surely not. She masked her energy signal anyway. When she didn't follow, he took her hand and dragged her with him, making her blush slightly from the contact.

"Cyclonus, what's going on?" He didn't answer her question.

"Keep your signal cloaked, you'll see soon enough." Twilight was starting to worry.

Yes, she loved the mech. Yes, she would give her life for him - she'd already proven that. But she didn't like how... Uncharacteristically nervous he was being. She saw a planet beneath them, and held in a gasp. Before she could voice her surprise, Cyclonus dragged them down towards the planet, forcing her to land. They walked out of the alley they had touched ground in.

"Primus, Cyclonus... Are we... On Cybertron?" He nodded. When she stayed silent, he became nervous.

"Are you mad?" She shook her head slowly after she'd finally processed his words.

"Not mad... Just confused." He smiled.

"I'll explain everything on the way."

"On the way to where?"

"You'll see." And with that said, he began his explanation.

"We're near the very spark of Cybertron, in a small city that refused to take part in the war. Since it's founding, it has retained neutrality. Citizens from here have never been dragged into any of Cybertron's wars. Despite the main population being neutral, they accept Decepticons and Autobots alike."

"I've been coming here for years, and nobody I've encountered has looked down upon me for any of my flaws." Twilight felt like saying 'What flaws?' but she quickly stopped herself. She smiled crookedly instead, optics bright with awe as she looked around at the peaceful, bustling city.

"...Thank you for bringing me here. This place is beautiful." He smiled, spark pulsing in relief that she wasn't angry with him. He motioned towards an old looking bar.

"In here. Trust me, it's not what you'll expect it to be like." She nodded, following him into the bar. She held in a gasp at what she saw upon entering. The interior was stunning. The place was quite small, but that only increased the cosy, welcoming atmosphere. Looking around, she saw that most of the other bots were elderly, but she didn't care. She liked this far better than any club the other Decepticons would've taken her to.

"So, you like it then?" She managed to nod, smiling politely when some of the elderly femmes giggled at her stuttering.

"I-It's incredible, I love it." Before he could reply, there was a shout coming from a dark blue mech behind the bar.

"Ah, Monsieur Cyclonus! It's been a while!" Both Decepticons turned their head in the direction of the elderly mech, who spoke with a thick French accent.

Cyclonus nodded to the French-mech, and that was when he noticed Twilight.

"Ah, you have brought company?" The old mech made his way round the bar.

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle, my designation is Phantom." Twilight shook his hand.

"I'm Twilight. Nice to meet you." He smiled.

"Spark-mate?" He asked, turning to Cyclonus. Twilight was perhaps a bit too quick in denying the comment.

"No, no, no! Just friends!" Cyclonus rolled his optics inwardly at himself when he felt a pang of hurt roll through his spark.

"Ah, well, if you'll take a seat." Phantom gestured towards a booth in the corner of the room, and Cyclonus ushered Twilight towards it before heading back to the bar. She saw him exchange a few words with the bar-mech Phantom before pulling some credits out of his subspace and quickly counting them.

_**'Cyclonus, how much was that energon?'**_

_'You don't need to know.'_

_**'Cyclonus, tell me. I can pay for my own energon.'**_

_'Nonsense, don't be ridiculous.'_

_**'Oh, **I'm** the one being ridiculous? If I'm ridiculous, Cyclonus, then you're **stupid**. I can pay for my own fragging energon!'**_ She heard him sigh through the link.

_'Twilight, I don't think I've ever met a femme so stubborn as to refuse to have energon bought **for** them on a night out. **You're** the one being stupid. You said it was 'my victory, my rules', right?'_ He took her silence as a confirmation of her words.

_'Then **shush**.'_ She sighed, severing the link. Phantom handed Cyclonus two cubes of energon and he walked over to their seat, sitting beside her.

"_Really_?" He asked as he gave her a cube. She glared at him before rolling her optics and taking the offered energon. He chuckled at her.

Phantom let out a chuckle of his own, watching the two from where he stood at the bar. The old mech had a habit of muttering to himself, and, if he were anywhere else on Cybertron, he'd probably be called weird. But here, the people loved him for who he was, and so he muttered away to his spark's content.

"Just friends, hm? We shall see how long_ that_ lasts for. They already argue like a bonded couple, it seems. Oh well, we shall see what happens as the night continues..."

* * *

><p><strong>Don't ask about the French accent. I just thought the line 'Monsieur Cyclonus' was rather funny XD.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight and Phantom.**


	40. Dance

**Sorry this took a while, I blame the BBC for putting on such epic shows these past couple of weeks. And of course, TFP season 2! Jesus, it's so epic! Anyway, thanks to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to In The End by Linkin Park and Learn To Fly by Foo Fighters. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight took a sip out of the cube she had been given. She sighed.<p>

"Cyclonus, this energon is amazing." He cocked his head to the side, raising an optic ridge.

"I sense a 'but' coming..." She tried to glare at him, but she couldn't, that smirk was too damn handsome.

"_But_ it must have cost loads." He rolled his optics.

"Again with the price! You're not paying, Twilight." She growled at him, but he could tell she was faking it, because that crooked smile had worked it's way onto her face-plates.

"...Thank you, Cyclonus. This place is wonderful, I almost feel like I shouldn't be allowed in." Phantom happened to be walking past their table as the words left Twilight's vocaliser.

"Ah, ah, ah, Mademoiselle, rule number one of the city: _everybody_ belongs." She smiled, and he returned the gesture before continuing on his way.

"See, _Mademoiselle_? You shouldn't be so negative all the time." She laughed, punching him in the arm lightly.

"Says _you_!" He chuckled slightly, draining the last of the energon out of his cube. She did the same, and they both set their now-empty cubes down. The sound of piano music drifted into their audios. Twilight recognised the melody instantly. Her whisper caught Cyclonus' attention.

"This song..."

* * *

><p><em>"Happy spark day, Sister." Twilight glared at Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave and Starscream. They were at the local park, sat on their usual bench. Well, Twilight was sat down, the others were stood, crowding around her, anxious to see what she thought of her present. So far, she didn't look impressed, but they knew that it was for a completely different reason.<em>

_"Brothers, how many times did I ask you guys** not** to get me anything? Primus knows I never get anything for you." Starscream rolled his optics._

_"Yes, because you can't. But we **can**, and we wanted to." Whatever patience Skywarp had was thinning._

_"C'mon 'Lighter, open it already!" She sighed, smiling at them all._

_"Well, thank you. I know I'll love it, no matter what it is." She carefully lifted the lid off of the box, reaching a hand inside._

_Pulling out the object, she gasped in surprise. It was a music box, an item that had once been a common sight during the start of The Golden Age. But now The Golden Age was visibly starting to decline, and less of them were seen. It was quite a rare item, only a few being sold in antique stores here and there. But the femme could tell that this was no antique. No, her brothers had made this by hand. The colours were a giveaway._

_The lid was navy with a yellow stripe down the middle, the front was red with a white stripe down the middle, one side was black with a purple stripe around the side, the other was blue with a red stripe around the side, and the back was black with red zig-zags running in an 'X' shape from each corner and through the middle. Soundwave spoke up._

_"Starscream bought the materials, Thundercracker welded, Skywarp painted and I recorded the melody." Tears started to roll down her cheek-plates._

_"No-one's ever done something this nice for me before, thank you all so much!" She set the music box down for a moment, grabbing all her 'brothers' and pulling them into a hug._

* * *

><p>The music box's melody was the same song Phantom was playing. Twilight held back tears as the French bar-mech continued to perform - and do a wonderful job of it, at that. She was brought out of her trance when Cyclonus stood, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. Were they leaving already? She shook her head as he started to drag her towards the dance floor.<p>

"Oh _Pit_ no." He laughed.

"Why not?"

"Because I have two left feet, I told you that when I first met you." He smiled at her, taking her other hand.

"Well it's not like I'm going to let you fall." She rose an optic ridge.

"Cyclonus, you've never actually done this before, have you?" He shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not." She rolled her optics, giving in.

"If I trip, I'm dragging you down with me."

* * *

><p><strong>ALMOST. THERE. Don't ask me why Phantom has a piano, I couldn't be bothered to come up with some sort of Cybertronian instrument. The song in the music box is In The End by Linkin Park, but the piano instrumental. Hope you liked it!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from ****Twilight and Phantom.**


	41. Now or Never

**Hey! I have nothing to do at the moment, so I thought I'd leave a quick chapter. Most of this is cheesy and a tad cliché, I'm warning you now. Written whilst listening to In The End by Linkin Park, How to Save a Life by The Fray, War by The Sick Puppies and Ghost River by Nightwish. Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The two Decepticons joined the other couples that were swaying slowly on the dance floor. Twilight was overly self-conscious of her actions, Cyclonus could tell.<p>

"Would you calm down?" She shook her head.

"You're an idiot. I'm going to make a fool out of myself." He chuckled.

"No you're not. I won't let you." She relaxed, but only slightly. Cyclonus eased one arm around Twilight's waist, and the femme placed her own around his neck. Their other hands remained entwined. She looked up at him, finally taking her optics off of her feet.

"See, you're not that bad." She rolled her optics. He thanked Primus - and the high-grade - for his newfound confidence. His optics took in her frame, face-plates doing all they could not to heat up at how close she was.

The soft lighting in the room was bouncing off of those sharp, bold, red markings. Her jet black armour gleamed, as if in appreciation of his staring. Her optics were at their brightest, leaving a faint glow on her striking white face-plates. She smiled at him, seemingly clueless to the conflict inside his head.

_'Tell her now! You can't put it off any longer!'_

_'What if she rejects me?'_

_'Would you **really** rather live the rest of your life not knowing how she felt because you are **afraid**? Since when have **you** ever been afraid of **anything**? Man up!'_ He sighed inwardly, bracing himself. The high-grade had finally fully kicked in, it seemed.

What was he supposed to say? Staring down into her optics, he realised that whatever he said would just come out as unintelligible stuttering. She'd left him speechless, as she had done many a time before. Actions are louder than words, he thought. The song was coming to an end, he didn't have much time left. He could see the curiosity in her optics, but he quickly shuttered his own.

_'Now or never.'_ On the exact ending note of the song, Cyclonus' lips found Twilight's. His processor screamed at him to pull back and his spark sank when she went rigid and gave him no response. As he moved to do so, though, she made an almost inaudible noise of disapproval at his action and placed a hand to the back of his head, keeping their lips locked.

She relaxed into his embrace, returning the kiss. After a while, he sighed, pulling back. They stared into each-other's optics for what could have been years, before they heard a chorus of "Aww's." from the elderly femmes that had seemingly been watching them. Cyclonus blushed, embarrassed. Twilight giggled, smiling up at him. They could both hear Phantom laughing, leaning against his piano.

"...I-If you'll excuse me." Cyclonus walked off to chat with the bar-mech before she had time to answer, and the old femmes all crowded around her. The Decepticon did her best to remain polite, but the bots were asking so many quick-fire questions she was sure even Blurr wouldn't be able to keep up with them all.

"How long have you two known each-other?" It took Twilight a while to shake the haze from her processor.

"A-A year." One of the femmes raised an optic ridge.

"A _year_? He's waited a _year_ to tell you how he felt? Primus, I would have up and told my spark-mate _months_ before _that_ if I knew _he_ wasn't going to make a move." Twilight giggled, but she was becoming nervous, trying to keep tabs on all of the elderly bots' questions.

"He's a keeper!"

"You two look wonderful together!"

"Your sparklings are going to be the cutest little things _ever_!" Primus, was this how _every_ femme thought? They share a kiss so now they have to think about sparklings? Sarcastic as the thought was, it made Twilight realise how... Uneducated she was about being in a relationship.

She saw Cyclonus approaching them, and the old femmes all giggled at the blush that all but stained the Decepticon's face-plates. Cyclonus took her hand, smiling politely at the femmes, a few of whom he recognised as regulars at the bar. He turned to Twilight, who almost melted when that smile was turned to her.

"Come on, there's somewhere else I want to take you before we return to base." She nodded, not trusting her vocaliser enough to even attempt to string together a coherent sentence. She waved goodbye to the femmes and thanked Phantom for the energon before following Cyclonus to the top of a hill on the outskirts of the city.

Twilight lay back on the smooth, metal ground, the second in command lying beside her. She smiled to herself. A month ago, she thought she was going to offline without ever knowing how he felt about her. Now here she was, having finally found out that all this time, he had felt the same way.

_'Okay, so maybe I haven't screwed up **everything** by being stationed on Chaar.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Apologies, I cannot write kissing scenes to save my life. But either way, IT FINALLY FRAGGING HAPPENED! I am slagging proud of myself for even making it this far into a story! And I have all of you lovely reviewersfavers/subscribers to thank for that. So thank you so much, you guys!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Twilight, Phantom and the elderly femme(s).**

**P.S. - This story is nowhere near finished XD. I just wanted to thank everyone who's stuck with me and helped me get this far! Love to you all! Xx**


	42. Together

**Warning you now, this chapter is a load of crap. Thanks to _Corevil_ and _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing. Written whilst listening to Last Train Home by Lostprophets and The Islander by Nightwish. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus and Twilight lay side by side for a while, completely silent, staring up into the stars. For once, Twilight was the one who spoke first.<p>

"...How long... How long have you..." Cyclonus rolled onto his side, facing her.

"Ever since you saved my life on Drax. I couldn't get you out of my head. But I had no slagging idea what to say to you. Scourge and Galvatron figured it out before_ I_ did." She laughed, smiling at him.

"Scourge figured me out, too. So did Soundwave. I've had feelings for you since the events on Drax, as well. I only admitted it to myself when we were on Thellion." Cyclonus sighed.

"If I had known that you... Felt the same way, I would have told you months ago." Her smile grew.

"Oh well. This is the perfect place and the perfect time." Her smile faltered for just a moment, but the mech caught it.

"Twilight... I thought I was going to lose you. If you had-"

"Please, don't. I'm here now. _We're_ here now, and that's what matters, yes?" He nodded. She shifted closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. He planted a kiss on her forehead. As he pulled back, she quickly reached up and pecked his lips. He smiled down at her.

How long had he wanted to hold her like this? He felt like an idiot now, putting it off for so long when she had reciprocated his feelings the whole time. He turned his head back to the sky, wrapping an arm around her.

No, he thought, none of that matters now. No force would ever come between them again, he would make sure of it.

* * *

><p>Cyclonus stood, pulling Twilight up with him.<p>

"Come on, let's head back to base." The femme sighed. She didn't want to leave, he could tell. Neither did he. She laughed quietly, smiling.

"Can't we just stay here forever?" He chuckled.

"I think our status is just a little too high for us to disappear unnoticed." She giggled back, taking his hand as they flew back to Chaar.

* * *

><p>They both walked into Twilight's quarters, grateful that they hadn't bumped into any other mechs on the way. He took a seat on her berth. She sat beside him, sighing in content.<p>

"So... What now?" Twilight laughed.

"... Carry on with life as normal?" He rolled his optics at her, wrapping his arms around her as they lay down on her berth. She smiled, wriggling around in his hold to face him.

They offlined their optics, recharge slowly creeping up on them.

"Hey, Cyclonus?" She onlined her optics, looking up at his face-plates.

"Yes?"

"...I love you." _That_ got his optics online. He stared down at her for a while before smiling and kissing her.

"I love you, too." She smiled, resting her head on his chest-plate. Within moments, they had both fallen into a blissful recharge.

* * *

><p><strong>Ridiculously short chapter is ridiculously short (and has a crappy title). The reasons that this is so small are because I had major writer's block for this part, school is giving me a crap-load of homework for the upcoming exams, and there's been a whole load of problems in the family =P. Anyway, next chapter will be longer, I promise. Thank you for reading.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Twilight.**


	43. Congratulations

**Hello! I'm not feeling very well, so this'll be the only chapter uploaded for tonight, unfortunately =(. Thanks to _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing and thanks to _Brightfirewarriorcat_ for adding me to their fave authors list! Written whilst listening to Free Bird, the opening theme for Haibane Renmei (an anime that I recommend to all of you. It has a bit of a slow start in my opinion, but it gets really good further into the story.). Anyway, hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus awoke late the next morning on a berth that was definitely not his own, but somehow familiar. As he cleared his processor, he remembered that he was in Twilight's quarters. But the femme was nowhere in sight. He resisted the urge to hit himself when he started to over think things.<p>

_'Last night **couldn't** have been a dream, you fool,'_ he thought to himself, _'otherwise you wouldn't be in her quarters.'_ But that didn't stop his spark rate from increasing.

_'Maybe she regretted what she said last night. Maybe she didn't mean it, and it was just the high grade talking. Would you quit it, mech? You had **one** cube of high grade each, that's not enough to mess with a bot's processor, much less one like hers.'_ He held in a sigh of relief as he heard the door swing open, and sensed the familiar energy signature of the femme he loved.

The femme that loved him _back_. Twilight sat at her desk, twirling a stylus around in her hand before tapping it on the desk a few times and nibbling on the end of it irritably. She finally wrote a few words down, before she picked up her pace and scrawled down a report. All the while Cyclonus lay there in silence, watching her.

She stood abruptly, walking over to her newly-installed energon dispenser. She poured a cube. Cyclonus offlined his optics as she approached him, feigning recharge.

The femme knelt over him, placing the energon cube on the window ledge. She slipped off of the berth, standing to her full height and putting her hands on her hips, rolling her optics skyward at the mech in front of her.

"_Still_ in recharge? Lazy mech." She huffed, but smiled softly before turning around and heading for her desk. As she did so, however, Cyclonus grabbed her wrist and dragged her back, making her fall onto the berth beside him. He smirked at her, tall purple frame looming over hers.

"_Who_ did you just call lazy?" Twilight giggled.

"Hm, let me see... You?" He laughed as she pushed him off of her. Sitting up, she bent down to kiss his forehead, but he shifted his head so she ended up catching his lips.

"Good morning to you too." She smiled as she pulled back. He groaned.

"What time is it?" She checked her internal clock before answering.

"Eleven-twenty." He shot up at that.

"Slag! Why didn't you wake me sooner?" She laughed.

"Relax, I've done all the paperwork, and, as far as I know, there are no meetings today." He sighed, sitting back down. She took a seat beside him, still amused at the panic that was just starting to die down from his face-plates. He pulled her into his lap, kissing her softly. They both lay back down, Cyclonus breaking the peaceful silence around them.

"Twilight... I need you to... Promise me something." She rose an optic ridge, looking up at him.

"Oh? Go on." He sighed, grateful that she didn't explode.

"I... I don't want to lose you, Twilight, you mean the world to me. Just... Just promise me you won't take any more hits for anyone, _especially_ me." She smiled.

"No problem, I'm getting a bit tired of almost offlining, anyway." He rolled his optics at her.

"My turn. Do _not_ start getting overprotective. I can take care of myself, you know that. If I ever need back-up, you're one of the first mechs I'd call." He sighed, but nodded anyway.

"Cyclonus... If... If something ever... Happens to me... Don't do anything drastic. Your life doesn't revolve around me, and if we are ever separated-" He cut her off with a kiss.

"_Don't_ speak like that. When our time comes, we'll deal with it. Together. For now, I don't want to hear another word of that." She sighed, smiling. She groaned, sitting up and leaving the warmth of her lover.

"I have to hand these reports in to Galvatron. Scourge has monitor duty, so, knowing my luck, I may be a while." He laughed as she left the room.

* * *

><p>As luck would have it, Twilight had been correct in assuming that Scourge would hound her with questions. She ignored them all, however, walking past him and into the throne room, a place he wasn't likely to follow her into. Galvatron was sat on his throne, as the femme had expected. What she <em>hadn't<em> expected was the words that came out of the warlord's vocaliser.

"Did you have a nice night?" She stuttered unintelligibly for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, thank you, sire." He chuckled.

"I haven't seen Cyclonus all morning." Twilight rolled her optics, laughing.

"Mech only got up about ten minutes ago. I've written out all his reports, so there's nothing left for us to do now, unless you need anything?" Galvatron shook his head.

"No, you may take your leave for the night. I must say, you two make a great couple." She giggled nervously, almost falling out of the door.

"T-Thank you, sire."

As Twilight walked back to her quarters, she bumped into Soundwave. She smiled at him, and he motioned for her to follow him into his quarters. The femme did so, taking a seat on his berth and swinging her legs back and forth idly. He sat beside her, face-mask removing with a 'click'.

"Congratulations, Sister." Twilight blushed slightly.

"Thanks, Brother. How are the cassettes?" As if on cue, Ravage leapt up onto the berth, climbing onto Twilight's lap and purring softly. Soundwave chuckled.

"Trust you to change the subject immediately. So, how did last night go?" She sighed.

"It... It was amazing, it really was." He smiled, pulling his oldest friend into a hug.

"Good, I'm glad. I'm happy for you, Sister, and I know that wherever your teammates and the trine are, they are too. I just don't want you to get hurt." She smiled up at her 'brother'.

"I can look after myself, Soundwave. Don't worry, I think you and I both know that Cyclonus is going to be stuck with me for quite a while." They both laughed.

"Speaking of Cyclonus, you probably don't want to keep him waiting. I'll see you later, Sister." She nodded, giving her brother a final hug before Ravage hopped off of her lap and she walked out of the door, across the hall and into her own quarters.

* * *

><p>Cyclonus smiled at her from where he was sat on her berth.<p>

"So, how was everything?" She shrugged.

"Got laughed at by Galvatron, who, by the way, thinks we 'make a great couple', got congratulated by Soundwave and got harassed by Scourge." The purple mech chuckled.

"You're lucky you didn't run into the twins as well then." She laughed.

* * *

><p>Word got around base extremely quickly of the two commanders' relationship, and Cyclonus and Twilight could hardly walk anywhere together without being interrupted by some other Decepticon cracking a joke about them or cheering in a good-natured manner.<p>

One night, as they lay side-by-side on Cyclonus' berth, the second in command voiced a question neither had been able to get off their minds for quite a while.

"Twilight... What happens now? I don't want to rush into things, but... I feel as if something's... Missing." She nodded, looking up at him from where her head rested on his chest-plate.

"I feel the same. But... This is all new to me. I've never even _thought_ about what it would be like to be in a relationship. By the time I was what was considered an appropriate age, the war had started, and I had gone insane." He sighed, kissing her gently.

"So... What now then?" She smiled up at him, quickly pecking his lips.

"Now," She started as her leg slipped off of the berth, "we go and see the Constructicons about this berth situation."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you all liked it, now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go and feel sorry for myself and watch Thor XD. I really hate being ill =P.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	44. Six Months

**You'll notice that there's quite a huge time gap from the previous chapter to this one. A six month time gap, to be exact, hence the crappy title. This is only because if I tried to write six months worth of, well, I guess it could be called filler, the chapters would become repetitive. So yeah, sorry if this annoys or confuses any of you. Written whilst listening to Song of Myself and Storytime by Nightwish and Through Glass by Stone Sour. Thanks to _benn55555 _for adding this story to their faves list!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus growled, trying his best to ignore Scourge's comments as he tried to write out a report in the control room.<p>

"So, what are you getting Twilight for your anniversary~?" The Sweep leader asked in a sing-song voice.

"That's none of your business, Scourge."

"So you_ have_ got her something then?" The second in command rolled his optics, putting on a sarcastic tone.

"_No_, Scourge, I haven't."

"Alright, alright, I was only messing around." Cyclonus rolled his optics again.

"Scourge, Twilight and I have been together for six months now, I thought you would have gotten this out of your system." Scourge chuckled.

"You know me, old friend-"

"He will _never_ get this out of his system." They both turned to see Twilight walking towards them from the communications centre next door. Cyclonus smiled and they both looked around to make sure there was no-one else in the area before sharing a quick kiss.

"Ugh, please, I don't care what you do in the berth, but don't start all the lovey-dovey stuff in front of me." Twilight giggled, taking a seat in between where the two mechs sat.

"Jealous?" He laughed.

"Who isn't?" Cyclonus held back a growl.

"I'm just winding you up, Cyc, you know that." Twilight rolled her optics.

"Yeah, well you shouldn't. _I'm_ the one who has to put up with his overprotective bad mood." Cyclonus nudged her lightly in the tanks with his elbow.

"Abuse!" She yelled, causing Scourge to have another fit of laughter.

_'I am **never** going to get this report finished.'_ The femme could sense her lover's irritation, his patience was thinning.

"Scourge, come help me with some demolition, would you?" He nodded, and they both stood. As Scourge's frame disappeared from the doorway, Twilight wrapped her arms around Cyclonus' neck, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before leaving the control room.

As the femme walked to her quarters with the tracker, she opened a private comm. link with the SIC.

_**'Sorry. You know we were only fooling around. Hope you still love me.'**_ She heard him let out a weary sigh.

_'You know I do, don't be stupid.'_ She giggled slightly before terminating the link.

* * *

><p>When the two Decepticons got to Twilight's quarters, she punched in her access code and Scourge followed her inside. She rose an optic ridge when he made his way over to her berth and started to scrutinize it's surface.<p>

"Umm... Scourge, what _are_ you doing?" He chuckled, red optics meeting hers, that familiar smirk on his face-plates.

"Just checking for any dents." She almost immediately caught onto what he was insinuating, face-plates - despite her best efforts to stop them - glowing a faint red.

"You have a sick sense of humour." He chuckled.

"What can I say? It's a gift. Anyway, what 'demolition' were you planning?"

"We need to knock that wall down." She said simply, pointing to the wall that separated hers and Cyclonus' quarters.

"Uhh... Alright then..._ Why_ do we need to knock the wall down exactly?"

"It'll combine mine and Cyclonus' quarters." Scourge nodded in understanding.

"Let's get to it then!"

* * *

><p>"Why haven't you done this before now?" Scourge asked as they finished clearing away the rubble from their demolition job.<p>

"It took us ages to get permission from Galvatron, mainly because he kept _forgetting_, and the Constructicons wanted to make sure the structure was sturdy enough."

"Okay, so now what?" Twilight sighed, knowing that an earful was awaiting her.

"We need to weld the two berths together." She rolled her optics when he smirked at her.

"No stupid comments or you're out and I'll get Soundwave to help me instead." The Sweep leader put on a horrified look.

"You can't be thinking of replacing me with Mr Monotone!" The femme rolled her optics skyward once more.

"He's still my brother, Scourge." The tracker winced.

"Right. I keep forgetting that." She giggled, taking out the screws that held Cyclonus' berth to the floor. Lifting it with unnatural ease, she carried it across the room and placed it next to her own. After she'd made sure they lined up correctly, Scourge placed the screws back and Twilight welded the two berths together.

"Thanks for that, Scourge."

"No problem, we done?" She nodded, and they both left the room.

"Hey, what are you two going to do about the two doors?"

"The Constructicons are going to deal with that. I'm no technician, and neither is Cyclonus. We'd end up shorting out the whole base's power if we messed with one petty electrics circuit in the door's passcode mechanism." Scourge laughed.

"See, you two are the perfect couple. Cyclonus is the more professional one - not that you're _not_ professional - and _you_ have the sense of humour." She giggled.

"You probably have a point there. Just don't mess with him too much. He's only being protective - albeit a little _overly_ so - but I'm sure you'd do the same, if you were in his place. Besides, it's like I said, _you're_ not the one that has to deal with his bad moods." He opened his mouth to speak, but she pointed a finger at him and cut him off.

"And _don't_ come back with some dirty little joke about interfacing." He laughed.

"I have to admit, you're sharper than I am." She laughed.

"Not that hard to believe, somehow." He chuckled, then finally caught on to the insult in her words.

"Hey! I'm the leader of the Sweeps!" She laughed as they walked back into the control room, where they happened to find the Sweeps gambling over cubes of energon.

"Oh yes, Scourge, and what a_ fine_ leader you are." He rolled his optics at her before marching off to give the Sweeps a half-hearted lecture.

Twilight giggled, looking around for Cyclonus. He was nowhere in sight. She sighed. Okay, so this wasn't her _ideal_ way to celebrate being together for half a year, but she kept reminding herself that there _was_ a war going on. She figured he was in the throne room, so she made her way back to their quarters.

* * *

><p>After two failed attempts at trying to recharge on the new, larger berth, Twilight started to rearrange things around the room. The two desks were moved so that they were side by side, and the two cupboards moved to be on either side of the energon dispenser built into the wall of what used to be her own quarters.<p>

As she was pushing the last chair into place under the desk, she heard the familiar sound of the door opening. She didn't look back, knowing who it would be. Even as Cyclonus wrapped his arms around her neck, craning his own to get a better view of her face-plates, she gave no response.

"Are you mad?" Silence. Cyclonus cocked his head to the side, raising an optic ridge. Was he getting the silent treatment? His assumption was proven wrong when he heard her sigh. She gently tugged at his arms, slipping out of his hold to sit down on their berth. Not once did she meet his optics.

"I'm not mad... At you. I just... I knew professional matters were always going to get in the way, but..." She threw her hands up in frustration.

"Ugh! I blame _you_ for making me go soft!" He chuckled, taking her hands as he sat beside her.

"We both knew that our jobs were going to clash with our relationship, and we were both prepared for that." She sighed.

"I know. But it's our anniversary. Primus, you've turned me into a normal femme!" He laughed.

"Define 'normal', please." Her optics narrowed as she scowled at her lover, voice rising as she started to rant.

"You _know_ what I mean. A _normal_ femme cares about her appearance in front of others, a _normal_ femme only _has_ to care about trivial things. A _normal_ femme thinks about _normal_ things that could happen in her future like bonding and having sparklings!" The Decepticon snapped her mouth shut, optics widening. The jet sat beside her didn't look at all surprised, that same smirk of amusement planted on his face-plates. Oh, _how_ she wanted to hit him. She sighed.

"Sorry, I went too far." She mumbled, turning to look at him only for their lips to meet in a gentle kiss.

"You are _not_ a 'normal' femme. You're anything_ but_ a 'normal' femme. I'm pretty sure your definition of a 'normal femme' wouldn't be able to keep her cool in situations as tense as the ones _you've_ come out of online. Yes, our jobs will get in the way of our time together, but we're in the middle of a _war_." She groaned, lying down.

"I _know_. I'm just... Envious of all the other femmes out there who've got the-"

"Simple life? Is that how you once put it? I guarantee you, Twilight, if you had the life you wanted to live before the war, you'd be bored to offlining." It was true. Her silence was her answer.

"Now come on. It's our anniversary, and we haven't exactly been acting like it is." She smiled, letting him pull her to her feet.

"I-" Alarms started blaring through the base and the two soldiers picked up multiple Autobot energy signatures rushing towards the main compound. Twilight growled, visor and mask snapping in place and claw blades deploying reflexively.

"Anniversary can wait." She looked at Cyclonus apologetically before rushing off to her post. The SIC sighed, subspacing his blaster and running through the base and into the fray.

* * *

><p>How the Autobots had finally located Chaar, Twilight didn't know. Nor did she care, once she saw the infuriatingly familiar visage of Ultra Magnus. Before she had time to dodge, he had grabbed her wrists and pushed her back into a wall. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off by kicking him away. Circling him like some sort of predator, she laughed.<p>

"Ah, it's been too long, Autobot. Despite how... Terribly unsightly your frame is to my optics, an opportunity to turn you into a slag pile is not worth missing." She drove her claw blades into his lower leg, giggling with a frightening glee when he failed to hold in a scream.

"Y-You weren't on the battlefield for months." She rose an optic ridge.

"Yes, because I was temporarily put out of commission for a month. Add on a month's recovery and four months of being on repair and construction duty in the absence of Scavenger and Long Haul, you get six months off of the battlefield." He scowled, quickly getting to his feet.

"Is that the_ real_ reason? Or is that what you _want_ me to believe, so that you can keep denying the abuse?" She rolled her optics.

"Oh for Primus' sake, not this again." He growled.

"I will make them pay for what they've done to you. It's obvious that they've brainwashed you or something! You're not in your right mind! If he... If he has touched you... Harmed you in any way... I swear on my creators' lives, he will _pay_." Twilight retracted her claw blades. Now that she'd disabled him, he wasn't much of a threat. All she had to do was watch out for those shoulder-mounted rockets.

"Help me out here, would you? Who's 'he', and what exactly can I apparently not prevent him from doing to me?" Her claw-blades came back out when Magnus' internal repair systems performed an alarmingly fast patch up on the wound she had inflicted. He stood to his full height.

"You _know_ who I mean, Twilight. Stop denying it! I'll save you, they can't harm you anymore." The femme face-palmed.

"Save me from _who_? Spit it out already you idiot!"

"_Cyclonus_! You _have_ to stop denying this! You know what he's been doing to you!" Rage took over her spark, the blood-lust that she thought she'd expelled long ago came rushing back.

_"I'm pretty sure your definition of a 'normal femme' wouldn't be able to keep her cool in situations as tense as the ones **you've** come out of online."_ Those words were the only things that reigned her in. She didn't yell. Her voice came out dangerously quietly, still packed with the barely held in fury that was rising by the second.

"How dare you even _assume_ that. You have no idea what goes on in my life. You do not have the right to accuse Cyclonus of doing such a thing." Ultra Magnus sighed, on the verge of begging.

"_Please_, Twilight. Stop this. Stop making it out like _he's_ the hero in this situation. I'm not the bad guy, 'Lighter, he is." She allowed more of her anger to seep into her tone.

"You have _no_ right to call me that! Stop acting like a wounded cyber-puppy and man up! I'm a Decepticon, and there's nothing you can do that will make me want to change that."

"So, that's it? You're just going to continue letting Cyclonus-" _That_ was it. Her self-control shattered, and she lunged at him, shredding through layers of thick armour like it was paper.

Magnus tried to ignore the pain he was in - the pain_ she_ was causing. All he cared about was making her see sense, no matter the cost.

* * *

><p><strong>Just thought I'd give you a heads-up, updates might start to be less frequent. Only because I've just become obsessed with Thor (well, technically Loki), and The Avengers comes out in May. I think I might've finished this by then, though. That, surprisingly, actually makes me quite emotional X'D. So yeah, I'm not giving up on this story, I'm just saying that I am unable to focus on more than one franchise that I fangirl over XD, so chapters might not be up as often.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, other than Twilight.**


	45. Secrets

**Hello! In a pretty good mood since I sailed through my German test, so here's a chapter for you all! Written whilst listening to We're In This Together by Nine Inch Nails, and Starfall and Flameheart by Two Steps From Hell.**

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus never thought he'd be grateful for the sound of Cyclonus' voice. Yet when he heard the Decepticon's calls, he let out a sigh of relief. The sadistic 'Con tried to calm Twilight down enough to stop her from mauling the Autobot Commander. But his old-friend-turned-enemy was still furious, she was growling in between ragged breaths like some sort of feral animal fighting for a meal.<p>

"Twilight, calm down." She jerked her head to the new threat, raising her claw blades to strike. They almost hit home when she stopped seeing red for a moment, and saw just _who_ she was aiming for.

"Cy... Clonus. Cyclonus!" She fell to her knees, horrified that she had given into her rage enough to not even recognise the mech she loved. Magnus shakily got to his feet, using the wall - which he was surprised hadn't been demolished in her attack - to keep himself standing. He resisted the urge to let loose a shoulder missile when he saw Cyclonus drop to Twilight's level and wrap his arms around her. Instead, he spoke up.

"Get your filthy hands off of her, _now_. She is _not_ your pet." He flinched when he heard Twilight's claws re-deploy.

"Stop." She snapped in a low tone.

"I have had it up to _here_," she stood, gently pushing Cyclonus' supporting arms away, "with you thinking that it wasn't my choice to become a Decepticon. None of them are doing anything to me. Stop whining like a sparkling and grow up." Cyclonus decided to intervene when she paused.

"What do you mean 'my pet'? When the frag did I ever claim her as such a thing?" Ultra Magnus growled.

"Don't you_ dare_ start acting like _you_ don't know what's going on. I don't have to live on Chaar to know what you've been doing to her. Enlighten me, 'Con, as to how in the slagging Pit you managed to brainwash a mind as sharp as hers." Cyclonus' optics brightened, fiery red meeting crazed light blue.

"Do you really think that I would force myself upon her?" Ultra Magnus sighed. It was obvious to him now that every 'Con was going to pretend to be in the dark on this subject. He knew that what he was about to say would cause Twilight more pain, but he had hit rock bottom. This was the only other thing he could think of that would get their attention.

"And if you two are such good_ friends_, I assume you know about _our_ history?" Twilight's optics widened, and her frame began to shake. Whether it was from fear or fury, Magnus did not know. Both was most likely. Cyclonus looked from the Autobot to the femme and then back again. Finally, he growled out,

"Explain." Magnus allowed himself a humourless chuckle.

"Ah, of course, in all the stories that she_ must_ have told you-"

"_Magnus_." The black and red Decepticon's threat was revealed in her tone.

"-She failed to mention the huge part that involved _me_." Cyclonus looked back and forth between the other two Cybertronians.

_'Is this true?'_ He opened a comm. link. There was no reply, and she severed it, blocking any and all of his attempts at establishing another. Another chuckle from the surprisingly smug-sounding Autobot.

"We were old friends, Twilight and I."

"_Shut it_, Magnus."

"Oh, dearest Twilight, I believe that Cyclonus deserves to know the true story. Don't you?"

"The stories of my past are mine to tell and mine _only_. You would do well to remember that." She snarled, a lethal amount of venom packed into every word.

"Ah, but I am telling stories of_ my_ past." The red and blue bot fixed his optics on Cyclonus, who was as stoic as the late Praxian commander Prowl had ever been.

"The Seeker trine and Soundwave weren't her only friends. We didn't see each-other as often as she saw them, but we still had a strong bond. Didn't we, _Sister_?" The madness seized Twilight again.

"You _dare _to mock Thundercracker? I'll tear your spark out for that!" Cyclonus, however, had different ideas. He wrapped his arms around her waist, halting her.

"Let me go, _now_, Cyclonus!" The Decepticon didn't release his lover. Even as he dragged her off back to base as reinforcements arrived for Magnus and the Autobots started to retreat, she continued her death threats.

"I will tear you to shreds, Autobot! You are going to regret what you've said! I'll _destroy_ you!" They made it through the base entrance, and Twilight managed to fight her way out of Cyclonus' grasp. As she tried to run off, his hand closed around her wrist, dragging her to their quarters. She was silent, fearful of what he would say.

She cursed to herself. This was all her fault. If she'd just managed to keep her cool for a little while longer, she would have been able to come up with some sort of lie to disprove Magnus' explanation. Her reaction alone had been enough to show Cyclonus that what the damn Autobot was saying was the truth. They reached their quarters, and Cyclonus slammed her into the wall, holding her at arm's length.

"Was that true?" Silence.

"Was what the fragging Autobot said _true_?"

"C-Cyclonus-"

"I don't care for excuses, I want to know the damn _truth_!" The silence that followed was her answer, and he let go of her. She dropped down to the floor, holding her horned audios in her hands.

_'Oh Primus, what have I **done**?'_ She could see from the corner of her optic that Cyclonus had started pacing.

"On Thellion... When you said you would explain everything..."

"Cyclonus-"

"You just conveniently _forgot_ to mention that you were once close friends with an _Autobot_? With _Ultra **Magnus**_?" She stood up. She was _not_ being messed around by that damn Autobot anymore.

"Yes, Cyclonus, I left that part of my history out because at the time I didn't know how you felt! I found it extremely likely that you would have just shot first and asked questions later!"

"We've been together for six months, could you not have told me during that space of time?" She sighed.

"And say _what_, Cyclonus? Walk into your quarters at the end of my shift and say 'Hey, Cyclonus, just thought I'd let you know that I used to be friends with the Autobot _second in command_'!" He sighed, holding his head in his hands. She was right. There would never have been an opportune moment to reveal something like _that_.

He looked up at Twilight's face-plates, surprised at what he saw. Tears were threatening to spill from her optics. She was on the verge of crying. Despite this, she tried to swallow back the lump in her throat and continued speaking.

"Look, I know you're mad, and I know how much you hate me right now. I should have told you. I was... Afraid that you would think differently of me, but it seems that you do anyway now." He was silent, averting his gaze to the floor, looking anywhere but at her pained optics. When she got no reply, she assumed it was in confirmation to her words.

"I'll go see Hook and tell him that they need to rebuild the wall." By the time her words had registered in his processor, her frame was halfway out the door. He pushed himself off of the berth, running to her and grabbing her wrist.

"Cyclo-" The mech's lips came crashing down onto hers, and her optics widened to an almost comical size before shuttering closed. He pulled away, leaning over her so their foreheads touched.

"I love you, Twilight. I love you. Don't leave. Primus, don't leave." She stared at him, surprised.

"Cyclonus... Oh, Cyclonus, I love you too. You know I do." He sighed, kissing her again before pulling her down onto the berth with him.

"I understand if you're still mad." He thought for a moment, slowly shaking his head.

"Just... Shocked, if anything." She sighed.

"I'm sorry, Cyclonus. I should have told you earlier. I-"

"Don't apologise. I know now, whether that was the right way of finding out or not. And if you think I love you any less, then you're an idiot." She smiled, leaning as far as she could into his embrace. They both offlined their optics.

"Oh, Cyclonus?"

"Yes?"

"Happy six month anniversary." He chuckled, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead. No matter what, the femme always managed to put a smile on his face-plates.

"Happy anniversary, love."

* * *

><p><strong>So yeah, some fluffy crap and an OOC Magnus and Cyclonus! ALL IN A DAY'S WORK. Hope you liked, please review and tell me what you thought!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in my story, apart from Twilight.**


	46. Crypt

**Oh. My. God. I have been waiting to write this chapter since the start of this story. I actually had a dream about the events of this chapter and the next couple, and that's how _War Machine_ was born into my brain XD. So yeah, quite excited about these next few chapters, and - without sounding like I love myself - I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you to _GeneralHyna _for faving the story, and thanks to _TheLoveDov_ and _Corevil_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to Brothers Fight, To Jotunheim, Ride To Observatory and Frost Giant Battle, all of which are composed by Patrick Doyle for the Thor movie soundtrack (You can tell I'm obsessed when I try and find the music XD). Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>It had taken Twilight a month to believe that Cyclonus didn't see her in a different light after the ordeal with Ultra Magnus. Now that things were back to normal - if you could <em>ever<em> call it that - the femme found herself bored out of her mind observing a data feed in the control room. She forced back a growl when Rumble and Frenzy came over to 'join' her.

"So~..." Rumble started in a sing-song tone. Frenzy chuckled.

"How are things with bunny-ears?" Twilight rolled her optics.

"Fine, thank you _so_ much for asking."

_'Because it's not like you ask every fragging **day**.'_ Suddenly, Rumble jumped onto the femme's lap, pressing an audio receptor to her stomach-plating.

"The _frag_ are you doing?" Frenzy had a hand over his mouth, barely stopping himself from falling on the floor with laughter. Rumble ignored her question, hopping off of her and joining his brother.

"Nope, no sparkling in there." Twilight's optics widened and her face-plates went bright red. They began to walk off.

"Hey, get back here _now_ you little fraggers!" They hightailed it out of the control room, laughing hysterically all the way. She growled irritably. They weren't worth chasing. She turned her head back to the doors when they opened again. She sighed with relief when she saw Cyclonus walking towards her.

"The twins just ran straight past me laughing like they've seen Optimus Prime with a pink paint job." She could sense the question in his words, and sighed wearily.

"They're convinced I'm carrying." The mech blushed.

"W-Why would they think _that_?" She giggled.

"Calm down, Cyclonus, I'm not." He sighed.

"I know." She tilted her head.

"Is there... Something wrong?" Cyclonus stayed silent. Twilight's tone turned suspicious.

"_Cyclonus_, what's going on?" He sighed again.

"Can you come with me?" Worry began to eat away at her spark. Had something terrible happened? She couldn't think of anything that could possibly make Cyclonus so nervous. She shook herself out of her trance, taking the proffered hand.

"Sure." They got to their quarters, and Cyclonus took Twilight's other hand.

"Don't... Don't get mad, okay?" She rose an optic ridge, letting go of his hands and folding her arms.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" He sighed.

"...Scourge, the Sweeps and I have been ordered to track down the traitor Octane." She frowned.

"You're not telling me the whole story, Cyclonus." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"He was last seen... Heading for Cybertron." Her optics brightened, glowing like fire.

"Then I'm coming with you." He frowned.

"You most certainly are _not_! Do you not remember what _happened_ when you were last on Cybertron?" She rolled her optics.

"That's not going to happen _every_ time I go to the planet. Did it happen when we went to the neutral city? No. Besides, I don't think Octane is stupid enough to hide inside the Autobot capital, if it's _Iacon_ you're concerned about. And I know Cybertron better than you and Scourge do." He shook his head.

"I'm not risking Magnus getting ahold of you." Her optics narrowed in a hell-fire glare.

"Do _not_ speak of me like I am some sort of artefact, to my face-plates no less. You promised me that you wouldn't think any different of me. You also promised that you wouldn't become overprotective. _That_ went out the window months ago." He sighed, holding her by the shoulders.

"I'm overprotective because you mean too much to me for me to ever lose you, Twilight." She was silent for a moment before huffing.

"Why do you have to be so damn sweet?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly.

"..._Fine_, I won't come with you. Just... Be careful." He nodded, moving to kiss her. She jerked her head back.

"You can kiss me when you're home and safe. Now get going." He rolled his optics and left. She watched him go, that nagging worry never leaving her spark. She didn't like this. Something was going to go wrong, she knew it. Sitting on the berth, she continued to stare at the door that her lover had disappeared through.

"Primus, Cyclonus, please be careful."

* * *

><p>How in the Pit the five soldiers had managed to end up in the Decepticon Crypt, Cyclonus did not know. His confusion floated away when he saw, out of the corner of his optic, the name 'Firecracker' written - in what was clearly Twilight's handwriting - on one of the grave markers. There was a statue on top of each grave, a statue of whatever deceased mech owned the marker.<p>

Firecracker was _huge_. His alt mode was quite clearly a jeep of some sort, built for heavy duty. His true form was styled specifically for demolition, Cyclonus could see from the statue how thick his armour must have been.

_'A formidable opponent and a trusted ally, but lacking a little in the intelligence department.'_ Was how Twilight had described him. Cyclonus wasn't surprised when he saw that the other members of Twilight's undercover unit were all positioned next to each-other.

Techno, the nimble little communications motorbike, looked comically tiny standing next to Firecracker. _'A motormouth, a joker, a party animal, basically the flightless version of Skywarp.'_ Cyclonus chuckled to himself.

Accelerator, the race car. _'Quite shy and quiet around other 'Cons, respectful to anyone above him in the hierarchy, but could easily tell Blurr where to shove it on the battlefield when it came to speed.'_ And then of course, there was Nightslash.

_'An annoying, narcissistic, slagger of a Seeker, but not without his uses. Quite a skilled sniper, and, obviously, an expert flyer.'_ The annoying, narcissistic, slagger of a Seeker stood proud at the end of the row of deceased undercover 'Cons.

Even his statue had been created with a smug smirk planted on his face-plates. Cyclonus rolled his optics and continued to look for the traitor Octane. He heard something move from within the dark corners of the crypt, and shuddered involuntarily. He had a bad feeling about this...

* * *

><p><strong>If any of you know the G1 cartoon well, PM or review if you think you know where I'm going with these next few chapters ;). All shall be revealed next chapter! Hehe, please ignore me, I'm on a major sugar rush (trying to numb the pain in my jaw from the orthodontist's =|). So yeah, hope you enjoyed, next chapter should be up tomorrow night if I'm not busy.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Firecracker, Techno, Accelerator and Nightslash.**


	47. Traitor

**As I promised, here's the next chapter. Thank you to _Corevil_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to The Humbling River by Puscifer, and Thunderstruck by AC/DC. Hope you enjoy, and please review!**

* * *

><p>Twilight growled, angrily scribbling down her signature on a report, using too much force than she probably should have. She'd already snapped two styluses and poked a hole in a datapad. She was getting fed up of being holed up in hers and Cyclonus' quarters. She didn't belong in here, not if he was out on a mission. Her place was at his side, especially if he was on Cybertron.<p>

How many times had he even _been_ to Cybertron? Considering she used to _live_ there, Twilight thought, Cyclonus had a lot of catching up to do before she was sure that she wouldn't worry about him going there on missions without her. There was a knock on her door, and her spark leapt for a moment.

_'Cyclonus.'_ She got to her feet and all but sprinted to the door. When she opened it, the worry came drifting back. It was Soundwave.

"Hello, Brother. Would you like to come in?" He nodded, unwilling to give up his emotionless façade until he was absolutely certain that no-one other than his sister would see him. He sat down on her berth, mask pulling back.

"You're worried." It was not a question. He knew her too well. Well enough to be able to read her face-plates like a datapad. She sighed, sitting beside him.

"You would be too." He chuckled.

"Cyclonus can look after himself. He was doing okay before you met him, wasn't he?"

"...Yes, I know, but-"

"He's fine, Sister. Calm yourself."

"I should have gone with him. I know Cybertron like the back of my hand, they don't." Soundwave laughed.

"You and Cyclonus work in perfect sync on the battlefield, both beside _and_ against each-other. But if one of you gets wounded, the other's judgement is impaired."

"That is _not_ true." Soundwave cocked his head to the side.

"Okay, if one of you is_ severely_ wounded." She sighed.

"Like I keep saying, if you were in my position right now-"

_'Twilight! Cyclonus and the others have returned, I want you in the throne room **now**!'_ The femme leapt to her feet.

"They're back." She stated before she bolted out of the door. Soundwave chuckled, letting his mask slide back in place as he walked out of his sister's quarters, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

><p>"I thought I ordered you to destroy the traitor on sight!" Galvatron yelled. Twilight was standing beside his throne. She glared down at the traitor Octane, bound by chains being held by Scourge and the Sweeps. Cyclonus spoke up.<p>

"I thought I should leave the... Pleasure of offlining him to you, Mighty Galvatron. Besides, he could know some valuable intel." Galvatron grinned maliciously.

"Yes, he shall be interrogated. Even if it proves to be uninformative, it shall be fun! Twilight!" The femme straightened to attention.

"Yes, sire?" The grin on the warlord's face-plates grew wider.

"Fetch the electro-whip!" Octane's optics widened in terror.

* * *

><p>Twilight giggled as Octane was struck once more by the whip. Galvatron laughed beside her, optics filled with glee as he watched.<p>

"I'll never talk! Never!" The ex-Decepticon screamed. Cyclonus growled.

"We shall see, traitor!" The black and red femme looked down at her leader when he spoke up. His optics never left the interrogation.

"Ah, Twilight, I know I can definitely say one thing about Cyclonus with confidence." She rose an optic ridge.

"And may I ask what that is, sire?" The purple mech chuckled, shoulders shaking.

"He can administer one hell of an interrogation." She giggled, looking away from the Decepticon leader to stare at her lover.

"That he can." Galvatron chuckled once more. Either she had not caught onto the joke in his words, or she had chosen to pretend that she had not. The very faint blush that rose onto her face-plates told him that it was almost certainly the latter.

Scourge, as usual, took advantage of this.

"You should know, you've had first-hand experience-" He was cut off as Twilight pinned him to the wall, claw blades pressed dangerously close to his neck cables. Before she could speak, he started to.

"Okay! Okay! I get it! I went too far!" She glared at him before backing off, moving back to Galvatron's side. The warlord stood as Octane let out a yelp and cried,

"Okay! I'll tell you anythin' you wanna know!" The Decepticon leader motioned to Twilight, who nodded in response. Sauntering across the room to kneel down next to Octane, she smiled at him.

"For a treacherous Decepticon, you did a good job of playing the heroic sacrificial character, but I think you failed to make the quota." She trailed a slim fingertip underneath the triple changer's chin.

"You see, the hero is supposed to _offline_ for his beliefs." Her hand ghosted along the edge of his wing. He tried to glare up at her.

"I'll remember that for next time. You know, for such a loyal Decepticon warrior, you know a lot about treachery and heroics." She laughed.

"And _just_ when I thought we could get along..." She glared at him. Before he could react, she hauled him to his feet by his forearms and slammed him into the wall. Her tone changed from sweet to threatening in an instant as she whispered into his audios.

"Do you know what happens when I have to deploy these?" She asked, holding up a hand to show him a set of claw-blades. He barely managed to shake his head.

"Things usually get messy. Terribly, terribly _messy_. Now, if any of the intel you spill is a lie... Well, I'm sure you're a smart mech... You can figure out who will be on the receiving end of these, can't you?" He nodded meekly, failing to squash down a whimper when she sliced through the air, blades way too close than could ever give him comfort.

"Now, now, Twilight, that's enough. We don't want to scare our guest." She giggled, letting go of the treacherous triple changer.

"Of course we don't, how rude of me." Galvatron paced in circles around the prisoner.

"Now, traitor, tell me what you know." Octane scrambled to his knees, turning round so that Galvatron was always in his sights.

"There's an outpost, on a moon not far from here. Rodimus Prime is visitin' it." Twilight stepped forward when Galvatron gave her permission.

"For what purpose is Rodimus visiting this 'outpost' for?" Octane shook his head.

"In all honesty, I have no idea. I remember hearin' somethin' about solar power and a space bridge, but I got nothin' other than that." She nodded curtly, a sign that she believed him, for now at least. She turned to Galvatron. He shrugged.

"He doesn't seem to be lying. Your opinion, Cyclonus?" The warlord asked.

"I see no flaws in his falsification, if it is even that." The regal Decepticon turned to the femme.

"What do you say, Twilight?" She didn't answer his question outright, turning to Octane instead.

"What other Autobots are accompanying him on this trip?" Octane tensed and froze, laughing nervously.

"I don't think there are any. Does it really matter?"

"You fool, of course it does! How many are there and who are they?" He shook his head.

"The Prime left alone, I swear! If there are any others with him, I don't know of such company!" Twilight scowled.

"I find it extremely hard to believe that Rodimus would go anywhere alone. Sounds like a trap to me." Galvatron nodded, frowning.

"Sweeps! Take him to the brig! We will interrogate him further later on if necessary!" The three Sweeps nodded. Twilight caught Cyclonus' gaze out of the corner of her optic. He seemed to be... Glaring at her.

"Cyclonus, Twilight, Scourge, you may leave for your quarters." They all nodded and bowed slightly. As Cyclonus left the room, not giving the others a second thought, Scourge grabbed Twilight's wrist.

"Cyc's... not been himself since we split up to look for Octane in the crypt. Also, his vocaliser seems to be malfunctioning. Not to insult him, but at one point, he sounded like... Starscream." The femme forced down a flinch at the mention of her 'brother's' name. She nodded.

"Alright, I'll talk to him." As they parted ways down the corridor, Scourge called after her.

"Just... Be cautious, Twilight." She rolled her optics.

"Sure thing, Scourge."

* * *

><p>Once Twilight had reached her quarters, she headed straight for the energon dispenser, pouring herself a cube.<p>

"Cyclonus?" She called out as she heard the door open. She sighed when she received no answer, not bothering to look behind her. Taking a sip out of the cube, she spoke again.

"Scourge said something about your vocaliser malfunctioning, did you get hit in the throat? Primus, the amount of times I told you to be careful-" What happened next made her freeze in confusion and horror.

"Oh, dearest Sister, there _is_ something different about his voice, isn't there? But I can assure you, it's no_ malfunction_!" She whipped around so suddenly that she dropped her cube, which smashed on impact with the floor. The mech standing in front of her was definitely Cyclonus, but the voice that met her audios was certainly not his. She knew full well who _that_ voice belonged to.

"S-Starscream?"

* * *

><p><strong>If you go and watch the G1 episode 'Starscream's Ghost' (I think it's up on YouTube), you'll see where I got the idea from. This is my first chapter that's actually based on an episode, I think. I just tweaked it a little. <strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Twilight.**


	48. Proposition

**...I have _no_ excuse for how long I've kept you guys waiting this time (well, I have many excuses, but none of them are valid, especially since I left you on one of my crappy kinda-sorta cliffies). I am _so_ sorry. This chapter seriously did _not_ want to be written. And on top of the wait, it's really short and quite crappy. So yeah, it was written whilst listening to A Place For My Head, Crawling and In The End by Linkin Park, along with The Last Stand and Strength Of A Thousand Men by Two Steps From Hell. On a kind of happier note, I've figured out the trick to getting more reviews on a Transformers fic! All you have to do is add Starscream into it! I usually get one or two reviews per chapter, I got _four _for the last one. It basically doubled, just because of Starscream XD. It actually made me laugh. So, thank you to _Corevil_,_ Screamer's girl_,_ TheLoveDov_, and_ TheSuperiorVision_ for ****reviewing! Okay, so I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p><em>"S-Starscream?"<em>

* * *

><p>"Oh, my dear, I'm so <em>touched<em> that you remember me!" Twilight stepped forward, keeping her cool.

"How?" Her 'brother' seemed to understand what she wanted to know. Starscream's smirk looked disturbing on Cyclonus' face-plates as he explained.

"My spark seems to be... Indestructible. Little old Starscream isn't going anywhere anytime soon!"

_'Indestructible? How is that even **possible**?' _The femme shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts and forcing her attention back on the matter at hand.

"If you're so 'indestructible', then why are you a mere ghost possessing Cyclonus' body?" The ghost's face-plates twisted into a scowl.

"Ah yes, I keep forgetting that _you_ weren't _there_ that day I was turned to _ash_. Your _leader_ incinerated my body, but it seems my soul survived. Like I said, it is indestructible. Proof that _I_ am the rightful leader of the Decepticons." Twilight frowned.

"What do you want with Cyclonus?" Starscream smirked once more.

"This mech seemed like the easiest way to get into contact with you. I come to you, Sister, with a... Proposition." The black and red Decepticon's optic ridge raised.

_'This **can't** be good.'_

"I'm listening." She stated, still fixing him with that stoic stare, feigning disinterest.

"I want you to help me terminate Galvatron." Twilight's optics narrowed and she physically recoiled.

"You want me to _what_?"

"I believe you heard me correctly the first time, Sister. Now, are you with me?"

"Why would you even _bother_ with such a thing?" 'Cyclonus' frowned, stepping closer.

"Isn't it obvious? While I may be immortal, there are lots of downsides to being a ghost. I will never be able to taste energon again, never be able to reach for something without my hand slipping right through it. And that's just the beginning. Galvatron is the mech responsible for this, and I intend to get my revenge. So, are you with me or not?" Twilight stood there, pretending to consider his offer. In truth, the answer had been no from the start.

Why would she help him, after he had betrayed his trine, betrayed _her_? No, she was biding time in order to think of a plan. A plan to get Starscream out of Cyclonus' body and be rid of him forever. But it's not like she could just grab him by the wing and throw him out. She couldn't touch him.

"Your beloved grows restless, my hold on him is starting to slip. I need an answer_ now_, Sister."

_'Quick, femme. Think of something, **anything**, to stall him.' _

"Why can't you just possess Galvatron? Wouldn't that be simpler?" Starscream laughed.

"You don't think that the Decepticons would notice a change in their leader's behavior? Soundwave and your lover certainly would." Twilight growled quietly.

"Well, what is your answer, Sister?" She sighed.

"My answer is no, Starscream." A look of genuine hurt flashed in the ghost's optics, but it was quickly replaced with confusion, and slowly growing anger.

"Why? You are my sister, why would you not join me?" She scoffed, optics narrowed in a hell-fire glare.

"You _really_ think you have the right to call me your sister after you left Thundercracker and Skywarp for death in space?" Starscream laughed, that taunting cackle bouncing off of the walls.

"You _still_ hate me for that? The crew took a... Collective _vote_, it was not my decision alone."

"That's a pile of slag and you know it!" Twilight snarled. He chuckled, still getting amusement out of her anger.

"And _I'm_ the only one that has disgraced their memory? Need I remind you that this _filth _I am inhabiting," Starscream gestured to the body he was possessing, "was once one of our 'brothers'? You have replaced them without a second thought, whereas _I_ have to live as a ghost, regretting what I let take place on that terrible day." She rolled her optics, letting out a harsh laugh.

"You don't regret it. You don't even _care_. Get lost, Starscream. I'm not helping you with your twisted plan."

"Sister, Sister, Sister. What happened to you? We used to be _such_ good friends."

"_I'm_ not the one who's changed. As loyal as I was - and in a way, still _am_ - to Megatron, I never particularly liked him. He corrupted your ideals, Brother. He corrupted _you_._ You've_ changed. And I want nothing to do with you now." 'Cyclonus'' optics brightened dangerously.

"Very well, I see there's nothing I can do to change your mind. But, I can't have you warning Galvatron of my plan, can I? I think it's time for you to join the brothers that you have so dearly missed in the Well of All Sparks." Twilight's optics widened, and her claw blades deployed instinctively. Starscream cackled at her.

"Oh, by all means, Sister, fight back. But bear in mind that at the end of the day, _I'm_not the one you will be injuring." Her optics narrowed briefly before she sighed in defeat, claw blades receding back into her armour.

_'What in the Pit am I supposed to do **now**?'_

* * *

><p><strong>...Yeah. *Dodges flaming bricks from disappointed readers*.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	49. Punishment

**GUESS WHO'S DEAF FROM THE YOU ME AT SIX CONCERT SHE WENT TO LAST NIGHT! XD, I'm alright, actually, better than I thought I was going to be, at least. Although my feet hurt from standing up for _hours_ (there were no seats =|). Anyway, thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_, _TheLoveDov_ and _Corevil_ for reviewing! This chapter was written whilst listening to The Little Things Give You Away, Numb and Figure.09 by Linkin Park. Just to warn you, this chapter was another one that didn't want to be written. It's really short and really bad, I promise I'll find my rhythm again soon, I have no idea where the little bugger's run off to -_-. Hope you enjoy, reviews will be appreciated!**

* * *

><p>Twilight fell to her knees, panting heavily. Starscream had hit a weak point. She hadn't fought back, fearing that she would do too much damage to her beloved. Her energon had been spilled all over the floor from multiple wounds that cut deep into her circuitry. She looked up at the ghost - still possessing Cyclonus - sending him a defiant glare.<p>

"Do not fret, Sister, I am merely... _Borrowing_ your lover." She tried to get to her feet, but he gave her ankle a harsh kick, breaking it. She yelped when the pain registered in her processor and her ankle didn't take her weight, making her fall to the floor.

"Look at how _pathetic_ you are, Twilight. Is Cyclonus weak like _you_?" Starscream sneered. Twilight growled angrily, trying to get to her feet. Changing the subject altogether, he spoke again.

"Funny, isn't it, how quick you were to change your opinion of _me_ after you found out about Thundercracker and Skywarp, yet you feel no contempt towards _Galvatron_, who was the one to offline me."

"You said it yourself, I'd already changed my opinion of you, I no longer cared." He chuckled softly, tracing her chin with Cyclonus' fingertip.

"Oh, I don't believe that." She growled as he grabbed her by the audio and held her against the wall.

"Besides, it doesn't look like I need to care, not if you're still kicking." He laughed.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" She smirked.

"But you're not _actually_ online, are you? You are nothing but a ghost, an illusion, a _fake_." His expression turned to one of rage, and in one smooth movement, he had ripped her right audio receptor clean off. If the walls weren't soundproof, help would have been straight on the way, because it would have been impossible for any mech nearby not to hear the pained scream that left Twilight's vocaliser.

But of course, not one soul heard it apart from Starscream. Twilight could barely hear it herself, given that her hearing was now so drastically impaired.

"Do you see what I had to do? Rather, what Cyclonus had to do?" His voice, quiet as it sounded to the nearly deaf femme, was still heard clearly, and she tried to fight off the rage that was eating her from the inside out.

"Cyclonus did _nothing_, this was all your doing. Don't you _dare_ blame this on him!" It pained her to see Starscream's condescending sneer plastered onto her lover's face-plates.

"But is it not by his hand that you are suffering? Is it not his body that you see before you? Is it not him who is hurting you like this?" As an example, he drove Cyclonus' foot into Twilight's tanks, making her purge. She shook her head.

"No, it's not. This is all _you_." That sneer was shoved into her line of sight as he picked her up and threw her against the wall. He cleared his throat, using Cyclonus' voice.

"I'm sure Galvatron would not think so, if he saw this right now." She growled, trying to get up, but he kicked her back down.

"I do not care what you do to me, just promise to give Cyclonus his body back when you're finished."

"Oh? You state how much you despise me and no longer care for me, and now you're asking me to make promises? _That_ doesn't seem fair. Besides, I quite enjoy having a body again, who knows when I'll be 'finished'?" She glared at him.

"You are one sadistic son of a glitch." He shrugged.

"What you think stopped mattering to me a long time ago, my dear. Now," He sneered down at her before kneeling to her level, "I believe the show is coming to an end."

* * *

><p><strong>Basically, this chapter was a complete piece of crap.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story other than Twilight.**


	50. Ghost

**Gonna try and upload as many chapters as I can tonight, only because I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. The internet keeps cutting out for no reason and I'll be visiting my dad again soon, which means no chapters for a week. Anyway, a huge thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_ for reviewing, ****adding this story to their faves, and adding me to their fave authors list! Written whilst listening to Purple Sky, Born Free and Lowlife by Kid Rock. This is - I think - the second to last crappy short chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight's optics widened in fright. She found relief washing over her when Cyclonus jerked and she heard his real voice, full of panic and worry.<p>

"No! Don't make me do this! Get out of my head!" His body gave another jerk, and the terror came flooding back as she heard Starscream's familiar screechy laugh.

"Sorry, Sister, I don't know _what_ came over me!" She tried to glare, tried to stop the fear from showing in her optics. Hands attempted to grab her neck, and her defence routines kicked in. She managed to stop her claw blades from coming out, trying to find a way of fighting against her captor without harming Cyclonus.

"Now, now, my dear, no need to be so hostile."

"Starscream don't!" Was all she managed to get out before he reached for her and wrapped a hand around her throat. She held back a scream, gritting her dentals as he picked her up by the neck. She threw her head back and willed the pain to stop as he gripped her neck painfully tightly. Starscream let out his usual screeching laugh, the horrible sound mingling with Twilight's choked screams as the grip he had on her neck tightened.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for the Seeker ghost to reduce Twilight to a whimpering wreck. One of her optics shorted out, the small smashing sound it made as the glass broke was barely heard by the half-deaf femme. Smoke started to pour from her now empty optic socket. Hope coursed through her when Cyclonus gave a jerk and regained control of himself again, quickly easing up the pressure on her neck and putting her on the floor.<p>

"Get out of my head." He growled quietly.

"No! I'm quite comfortable in here!" Starscream laughed.

"I said get _out_!" All of a sudden, that frightening glint in Cyclonus' optics disappeared, and the translucent form of Starscream's ghost materialised a few metres away from the berth. The second in command collapsed on top of his lover, exhausted from the effort it took to force the Seeker out of his mind.

Twilight used the last of her strength to wriggle out from under him and stand - as well as she could - in front of the berth. Arms spread out as if she could block the ghost from getting to her partner again, she growled menacingly.

"Leave, Starscream. You are not welcome here, and after your actions today, you never will be." He laughed.

"Don't take that tone with me, Sister! Besides, what makes you think I'll do as you say? I can easily fly through you and take your beloved out for a test drive again right now if I wanted to!" She rose an optic ridge.

"Oh, I know. But _do_ you want to? What else can you gain from posing as Cyclonus?" She saw that glint in his optics, and knew instantly what he was thinking.

"Galvatron's cannon incinerated _you_, Starscream. What makes you think that he will hesitate to incinerate Cyclonus, or any Decepticon you possess? You'll run out of fodder sooner or later. Your plot is pointless, now grow up and get the Pit out of our quarters." He growled.

"This is far from the end, Twilight! _Far_ from it!" And with that, he disappeared.

"Twilight..." She just about made out Cyclonus' whisper.

"Shh, my love. You're exhausted. Get some rest while I go to the med bay." She kissed his forehead before limping out the door, half-blind and holding her severed audio receptor in her hand.

* * *

><p><strong>The chapters <em>will<em> start to get longer, I promise.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	51. Help

**Aaaaand here's another chapter for you all! Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to Chasing the Storm, Prologue, Sons of Odin, A New King, Ride to Observatory, and To Jotunheim, all of which are from the Thor soundtrack composed by Patrick Doyle. Well, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight didn't get far before her systems began to scream warnings at her. Her joints protested with every step. Eventually the base began to spin around her and she collapsed. The last thing she saw before unconsciousness was the hallway behind her, a trail of energon on the floor leading from her quarters to where she lay, beaten and bloodied.<p>

* * *

><p>Frenzy opened the door to Soundwave's quarters, intent on going to the rec room with Rumble to get some energon. What he saw as his optics turned to the hallway before him made him freeze.<p>

"H-Hey, B-B-Bro?" He slammed the door shut, running full pelt back into his creator's quarters and hiding under the desk.

"Geez, Frenz, what's gotten into ya? Ya look like ya've seen a ghost!" The red and black twin shook his head, trembling.

"Worse, Rumbler, a whole _lot_ worse." The blue brother rolled his optics behind his visor.

"Let me go see what you're so scare- HOLY _SLAG_!" The Cassetticon shut the door and joined his twin under the desk. Soundwave bent down to stare at his terrified creations, the look he was giving them alone was enough to know that he wanted answers.

They both pointed to the door, scrambling out from under the desk when they got the courage to follow the trail of energon they had found splattered on the ground. Soundwave saw that it was coming from Twilight's shared quarters and immediately set off to follow them. It could be Cyclonus and not his sister, but he had to be sure.

His spark froze with worry when Rumble and Frenzy turned the corner before him, both going rigid and backing away slowly, trembling. It flared with anger and panic when he saw what it was for himself. Twilight lay unconscious, one optic reduced to an empty black hole and one audio receptor on the floor beside her, ripped from her frame.

_'Who did this? The only possible mech is Cyclonus, but he wouldn't... **Would** he?'_ Soundwave had no time to investigate into the matter of the culprit, he needed to get Twilight to the med bay. Picking her up, he tried his best not to agitate the gashes and cuts, but there were too many. The monotone mech swallowed back a growl.

"Rumble; locate Cyclonus. Frenzy; inform Galvatron of the situation." With that said, Soundwave walked off.

* * *

><p>Hook looked up from the novel he was reading when the doors to the med bay opened.<p>

"Okay, who in the Pit- Oh dear Lord what the _frag_ happened?" The medic composed himself after his shocked outburst, preparing a berth in a matter of seconds and getting Soundwave to lie Twilight down on it. After the communications mech had told Hook all that he knew - which wasn't much - he left to clean up the corridors that had been splattered with his sister's spilt energon.

* * *

><p>Twilight's remaining optic came online, burning like fire. She tried to sit herself up, yelping when a huge gash on her torso prevented her from doing so.<p>

"Easy, Twilight, easy." She turned her head to see Hook walking towards her.

"What... _What_?" The mech folded his arms, sitting on the berth next to the one she had been placed on.

"That's what _I_ would like to know. What in the Pit happened?" She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and fighting off the nausea.

"No, no, I can explain _that_ in a moment. I meant how did I get in here?" Hook rolled his optics behind his visor.

"You collapsed on your way here. Soundwave found you and carried you the rest of the way. Now would you _please_ tell me what the frag happened? Did someone-" She shook her head.

"No, it's not like that. Now I know you're not going to believe me and I know you're going to think I'm crazy, but hear me out, okay?" The medic rose an optic ridge but nodded anyway. She sighed.

"It was Starscream. Well, Starscream's ghost, spirit, whatever you want to call it. He possessed Cyclonus and then attacked me. He wanted me to help him terminate Galvatron. Obviously, I declined the _offer_, and he didn't want to run the risk of keeping me online." Hook sighed. A ghost? Before he could ask, she continued.

"Ask the traitor Octane, he was in on it the whole time. I swear to Primus when I get my hands on him I'll-"

"_Easy_, Twilight. Octane will have to wait. Has Cyclonus suffered any physical injuries?" She shook her head.

"He's just exhausted. Is he... He's going to be okay, right?" Hook nodded.

"I don't have a clue how the presence of a _ghost_ affects the body, but he should be fine. I'll go and see to him now, I commed Scourge and got him to go over there, so he must be fine if that idiot hasn't burst into the med bay yet." Twilight laughed quietly. The Constructicon helped her up, indicating to a reparation bath in the far corner of the med bay.

"Sitting in that - until _I tell you_ that you can leave the med bay - will be the quickest way to heal you. You have many wounds, but most of them are small and too fiddily for me to fix myself. Now you're going to _stay_ in there until I come back, alright?" She rolled her optics and nodded, allowing Hook to help her into the bath.

The disinfectant in the water started to sting so badly that the cuts felt like they were burning, but she endured it, watching as the medic left the room. She sighed, letting her mind wander in a different direction.

Twilight knew what Cyclonus was like. He'd blame himself for this, and it would take everything she had to convince him otherwise.

"Oh, Cyclonus, I hope you're okay..."

* * *

><p>Hook gently pushed open the door to Cyclonus and Twilight's quarters, seeing the SIC and Scourge sitting on the edge of the berth. The room and the corridor had been cleaned, and it seemed that Cyclonus had found the energy to go to the wash racks and get rid of the energon that had surely stuck to his frame. Scourge walked to the door when he saw Hook, motioning for the medic to step outside.<p>

"He's taking it pretty badly. He's convinced that she hates him, that she's going to leave him." Hook rolled his optics, ever thankful for the visor he wore.

"I can assure you, she's not going to leave him. Stubborn femme wouldn't let me see to her until I'd made sure he was okay."

"They _are_ going to be okay, aren't they?" The Constructicon nodded.

"I just have to weld Twilight's audio back in place and get her another optic, then she'll be good to go. I'm going to give him a sedative, so he can actually get some recharge." Scourge nodded and left.

Hook walked into the room, shutting the door behind him and making his way over to Cyclonus.

"Is she... Is she okay?" Hook nodded.

"She's fine, almost fully healed, actually. I'm going to give you a sedative that will also numb the area of your processor where dreams are computed, so you'll be able to get some recharge." Cyclonus hesitantly nodded, taking the pill and swallowing it. His vision became blurry and he lay down, barely hearing Hook's words before he drifted off.

"This'll keep you out for about two hours, I'll try and have Twilight back to you by then." He attempted to nod, but he soon found himself in a peaceful, dreamless recharge.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was longer than I expected (thank God for that).<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	52. Apologies

**And a third chapter, because I'm feeling generous XD! Written whilst listening to Frost Giant Battle, Banishment, Crisis in Asgard, Odin Confesses and Hammer Found from the Thor soundtrack by Patrick Doyle. On a different note (that is completely unrelated to this fic), has anyone seen the TFP episode 'Crossfire' yet? Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Ow! Would you cut that out?" Hook sighed irritably.<p>

"If you stayed still then it wouldn't hurt as much! Stop being such a sparkling!" Twilight growled, lying still on the repair berth. She'd never had to have an optic replacement done before, and it hurt like a smelter, more so than the audio repair did. Hook had to practically sit on her to keep her from cringing away from the tools.

"There! It's all done! Now, was that so hard?" She scowled at the medic, hopping off of the berth. Her expression brightened, and she put a hand on the Constructicon's shoulder.

"Thank you, Hook." He shook his head.

"No problem." She rushed out of the med bay, running to her quarters. Cyclonus was in recharge when she arrived. She sighed, looking down at him with soft optics. Sitting next to him, she bent down and planted a kiss on his forehead.

Turns out that was all it took to wake him up.

"Twilight... _Twilight_!" He sat up, staring at her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering into his audio.

"Thank Primus you're okay." The purple mech allowed himself a small chuckle.

"One day, you're going to get injured, and you're not going to ask me if _I'm_ alright when_ you_ get out of the med bay." A moment later, she let go of him, the look in her optics asking why he hadn't returned the embrace.

"Love, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, I-" She shook her head.

"This was Starscream's fault, not yours."

"No, I was weak, I should have-"

"You repelled him in the end, didn't you? You saved me." He shook his head.

"Twilight... I hurt you. Whether it was Starscream or not, it was by my hand that you were tortured, it was my fault."

"Cyclonus... Please," Tears pricked at her optics, threatening to break her resolve, "I do not blame you for this. No matter what you say, this was not your fault." As she said this, Cyclonus couldn't stop picturing the state she had been in when Starscream had finished with her. He shuttered his optics tightly, shaking his head.

"Twilight... I don't want to hurt you again." His spark clenched when a tear rolled down her cheek-plate. He'd never seen her cry before. He'd seen her close to tears, but not like this.

"You won't hurt me. Starscream's gone. Please, don't blame yourself." He was silent, looking anywhere but at her. She held her head in her hands and choked back a sob.

_"Look at how **pathetic** you are, Twilight! Pathetic... Pathetic.. Pathe-"_

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Dammit Cyclonus! I don't blame you for this, now would you just _drop it_?" She snapped. He flinched at her tone and her optics widened.

"Oh Primus, I'm sorry Cyclonus." She got no response. She brought her knees up to her chest-plates and rested her head on them.

She tensed momentarily as Cyclonus' arms wrapped around her waist, holding her gently as if she was the most fragile thing in the world. She looked up, wiping her tears away and forcing back a growl at how pathetic she was acting. After a moment's silence, Twilight craned her neck and pressed her lips against Cyclonus'. He sighed, pulling her closer and moving them to lie down side by side.

"I'm sorry-" Her optics narrowed.

"_Stop_ apologising."

"-for being so stubborn. I should have just believed you when you said you didn't blame me." She frowned.

"Yes, you should have." He kissed her softly.

"I love you, Twilight." She smiled.

"I love you too, Cyclonus. Nothing will ever change that."

* * *

><p><strong>Had to end the chapter with some of my badly-written kinda-sorta but not fluffiness, sorry XD!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in my story, apart from Twilight.**


	53. Day Off

**I'm afraid, *upset sniffle*, that this is the last update for about a week D'=! (You're all probably thinking "thank Primus for that, crazy betch is gone" XD). Thank you to _Corevil_**_,_ **_TheLoveDov_ and _TheSuperiorVision_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to Bring Me To Life by Evanescence, No Man's Land and Duel of the Fates by John Williams. This chapter's quite short, too, sorry =|. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight yawned, onlining her optics. She felt that same split-second of worry that she always did when she awoke and found herself alone. Rarely did Cyclonus wake up before her, but she knew there was nothing to worry about. She sighed, standing up and stretching, making her way to the energon dispenser.<p>

She waited for the cube to fill up. The dispenser was slower than usual as their energon supply was running low. She yelped in surprise when strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her into their owner's chest. Twilight rolled her optics when Cyclonus chuckled in her audio.

"Sorry, love, didn't mean to scare you." She faked a growl.

"That's _exactly_ what you meant to do, you fragger." He laughed, picking her up - which elicited another yelp from the femme - and carrying her to their berth. Lying her down and then laying by her side, he smiled.

"Galvatron gave us permission to take today off."

_'So **that's** why he was up so early.'_ She rose an optic ridge.

"What's so special about today? It's not some sort of anniversary I've completely forgotten about, is it?" He chuckled at her bluntness.

"No, love, don't worry." She sighed.

"So Galvatron's allowed to be in on it but I'm not?" Cyclonus rolled his optics.

"Yes, because he needed to know why I wanted time off. You're not allowed to know because it's a surprise." She pouted.

"I hate surprises." He laughed, sitting up and pecking her forehead.

"I hope you don't hate this one. Now, I have to go, I'll be back soon." She sat up, still being somewhat uncharacteristically sulky.

"So I'm not allowed to know why we have the day off, and now I'm confined to our quarters. You're a horrible mech." He rolled his optics, leaning forward to kiss her. But she kept moving away, a teasing smirk on her face-plates the whole time. He growled possessively, pinning her to the wall and kissing her. She sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. As he pulled away, he smirked.

"I'm still not telling you." She huffed, still pouting.

"Fine. It had better be good." He winked at her, leaving the room. She rolled her optics, giggling and shaking her head as she lay down on their berth.

"Primus, and people wonder why I love you."

* * *

><p>Cyclonus knocked on Soundwave's door, bracing himself. The communications mech answered straight away.<p>

"Cyclonus." That emotionless tone never failed to send shivers down the SIC's spinal cord.

"Soundwave." The navy mech's expression may have been hidden by his visor and mask, but Cyclonus could tell that he wanted to know what the second in command wanted.

"I need your permission to do something."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, since I'm feeling very generous, I'm going to hold a competition. Anybody <strong>who can guess correctly what Cyclonus is planning can have a one-shot off of me to do with whatever you want (within reason), because I may be losing my muse and I want to make sure that I don't. But there are rules, my dudes and dudettes, which you can find on my profile. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!<strong>**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	54. Proposal

**This took longer than expected because I have a really important science exam coming up and I've been revising like a mad woman, sorry. Written whilst listening to Kings and Queens, Closer to the Edge, The Kill, and This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars. A huge thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_ and _Corevil_ for reviewing, to _the Tormentor_ for faving the story, and to _TheLoveDov_ for - among others who I know in person - entering the competition! It's only short, but I hope you enjoy anyway!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus opened the door to his and Twilight's quarters, raising an optic ridge in confusion when he saw that his lover was in recharge. She was a very light recharger, and once she was awake she usually couldn't doze off again in the day, unless she'd had to go for ages without recharge. He cocked his head to the side, closing the door as quietly as he could before silently joining her on their berth, shaking her gently.<p>

"Twilight, Twilight, love, wake up." She groaned, swatting his hands away.

"Ugh, what is it?" He chuckled as she sat up groggily.

"Come on, we're leaving." She rose an optic ridge, stretching.

"Leaving? Where?" He rolled his optics.

"It's a surprise, now let's go." She sighed, standing.

"If we're going to visit Phantom at the bar, apologise in advance for my awful mood." He laughed.

"We can stop by on the way back from where we're going, if you want."

"Which is where?"

"A _surprise_." Twilight groaned.

"Tell me!" She whined, drawing out the final syllable.

"No." He said simply, taking her hand and leading her to the entrance of the base.

* * *

><p>The two Decepticons had been flying for a while before they stopped on a lavender-coloured moon, allowing Twilight to rest for a moment.<p>

"Twilight, do you trust me?" She rose her optic ridge at the question that her beloved had thrown at her from out of nowhere.

"With my life, why?" She stood up from the rock she had been sitting on. She noticed almost straight away the nervousness in his optics. Before she could react, he had moved behind her and secured a blindfold over her optics.

"Cyclonus, what the frag?-"

"Please, love, trust me." He took her hand, leading her away.

"Cyclonus... I trust you, I really do. But... I don't understand-"

"You don't have to understand, love. I promise it will make sense when we get there."

"When we get _where_?"

"_Trust me_, my love." She rolled her optics behind the blindfold, allowing herself to be led to this unknown destination.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later, Twilight felt them land on soft ground. It was unusual, but somehow familiar. She heard Cyclonus sigh and could tell how anxious he was.<p>

"I really hope you like this, love." He stepped up behind her, untying the blindfold. As her optics adjusted to the light, Cyclonus tossed the blindfold into his subspace and moved back in front of her. She looked around, not bothering to hold in a surprised gasp. The purple grass, the green clouds, the golden rocks, the twin red moons and the ever-beautiful healing spring.

"Thellion..." The planet's name escaped her lips as a mere whisper.

"Cyclonus... You didn't destroy it." He smiled.

"Obviously not. I take it you're happy?" She tackled him to the floor, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately.

"You are amazing." He smirked.

"I know." She rolled her optics, shaking her head and climbing off of him. He stood, and the anxiety and uncertainty came rushing back, and she knew that whatever he had brought her here for was serious.

"Twilight... I requested a day's leave so that I could bring you here... Because I need to ask you something." She bit her lip, a habit she had only recently picked up.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I can handle it." He sighed. They were both practically shaking, and they chuckled softly despite themselves. Twilight froze when Cyclonus took her hand, kissing it gently before voicing his question.

"Twilight... Will you be my spark-mate?"

* * *

><p><strong><em>TheLoveDov <em>guessed it right, so well done you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight and Phantom. **


	55. Bond

**Warning you now, this chapter is extremely short. EXTREMELY. _Short._ I'll try and find the time to update another one tonight, but, like I said before, I'm revising like crazy. Anyway, listened to The Messenger and Iridescent by Linkin Park whilst writing this. Huge thanks to _Corevil_, _TheSuperiorVision_ and _Screamer's girl_ for reviewing! Uhh... Hope you enjoy this crappy chapter that's extremely short?**

* * *

><p>"Cyclonus... I..." The mech sighed. Had he rushed into this? Both Galvatron and Soundwave had given him permission, but... Twilight didn't seem too happy.<p>

"I'm-" He was cut off as the femme that was now in his arms pressed her lips to his in a loving kiss. He held her tightly, returning her affections. She broke off to smile at him.

"I will! Primus, I love you Cyclonus!" He smiled back at her, relief flooding throughout his systems as he kissed her again. She pulled away, sighing in content before lying back on the grass, her mech at her side. He traced the edge of her chin, smiling.

"I'm so glad you accepted." She smiled back, rolling on her side to curl up next to him.

"Did you really think I would turn you down?"

"I was a little worried." He admitted. She rolled her optics, craning her neck to peck his lips.

"Silly mech. So... Do you want to do it now?" He stiffened noticeably, sitting up.

"Oh, how blunt you can be sometimes." He tried to lighten the mood, attempting a chuckle.

"I'm being serious, Cyclonus, are we doing this now?" He sent her an anxious look.

"That was the idea, yes." She took his hands.

"Why are you so nervous?" He sighed, pulling her into his lap.

"We're not sparklings, Twilight, we both know what happens during a bond's creation... If we do this, it's final. There's no-"

"Don't be as stupid as to suggest that I would_ ever_ want to leave you, Cyclonus." He smiled softly, and as their lips met for the final time before they became more than just lovers, they both whispered the same words.

"I love you."

* * *

><p>Cyclonus slumped over, exhausted. He smiled down at his lover - his <em>mate<em> - who had passed out as soon as he had broken the connection. He closed her spark chamber after closing his own. Rolling off of her and wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her cheek-plate.

"Sweet dreams, my love."

* * *

><p><strong>Blegh. Have some of my failed fluffiness to finish off. Hate this chapter...<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	56. Connection

**Whoa, fifty-five chapters and fifty reviews! I never thought I'd get this far! Thanks so much you guys! Wanted to say thank you to _Corevil_, _TheLoveDov_, and _TheSuperiorVision_ for reviewing, and to _megatronus89_ for putting me and this story into their alert lists! Written whilst listening to Iris and Slide by Goo Goo Dolls. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**P.S - For once, I'm actually quite happy with the length of this chapter =D!**

**P.P.S - And, on a completely unrelated note, I went to go see Avengers Assemble earlier this evening, and my God it was epic! Anyway, back to the chapter, fangirl's going back in her cage now. Xx**

* * *

><p>When Twilight awoke, the first thing she noticed was that her spark felt different. The second thing she noticed was that she wasn't on her berth. Then she remembered what had happened. Sitting up, she sighed, stretching.<p>

"Welcome back." She turned to see Cyclonus walking towards her, looking and sounding extremely smug. She rolled her optics, taking his proffered hand.

"Thanks." She grumbled. She felt his amusement flow freely through their bond.

"It feels strange, doesn't it?" She shrugged.

"It feels like I've finally found something that I've been searching for, like my spark is... Complete."

"Autobot." He teased. She growled quietly.

"Say that again, and I _will_ slice your fragging head off." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest and growling into her audio.

"You wouldn't dare." She giggled, pecking his cheek-plate. The mech sighed.

"We have to go, Galvatron's expecting us back." She groaned, but nodded anyway, taking off. Cyclonus lingered for a moment. He couldn't see a certain pair of Seekers, but he knew that they could see him.

"If you're listening, then thank you." He said before transforming and flying off. The two translucent Seekers were sitting on the boulders surrounding the healing spring. Skywarp chuckled.

"I give them a week." Thundercracker raised an optic ridge.

"Until what?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. Skywarp looked at 'TC' as if he was dumb, which was certainly saying something.

"Until they frag and make a sparkling." Thundercracker face-palmed.

* * *

><p>Scourge was on patrol at Chaar's base's entrance when the two Decepticons returned. Twilight cocked her head to the side as he sent them a confused look. She tugged lightly on her bond.<p>

_**~Did you not tell him?~**_ Cyclonus shook his head.

"Where the frag have you two been?" He asked as they touched ground in front of him.

"Oh, you know, just out on a field testing mission." The tracker raised an optic ridge.

"_Riiiiight_. And what did you _do_ whilst out on this 'field testing mission'?"

"The usual. Collected data, took samples, spark-bonded." They both walked past him slowly.

"Oh, okay then." Cyclonus rolled his optics.

_~Any second now. Wait for it, five, four, three, two...~_

"Hold on a second! You two _bonded_?"

"One." They turned around as he ran to catch up with them.

"For real? You guys _seriously_ bonded?" Twilight rolled her optics.

"_No_, Scourge, we thought we'd just say that for the hell of it." The Sweep leader chuckled.

"Well, congrats. It only took you what, a year, Cyc?"

"Shut up." Twilight giggled.

"Well, I'd better get back to patrolling, I'll be seeing you." They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>Whilst heading towards the throne room, Twilight received a message from Soundwave.<p>

_'Congratulations, Sister.'_

_**'Thank you, Brother. How did you find out? I know the twins are the optics and audios of the gossip around here, but they couldn't have found out **that** quickly.'**_ She heard him chuckle through the link.

_'Actually,** I** knew where you were going before you did. Cyclonus asked for my permisson to propose.'_ Twilight held back a smile.

**_'He did, did he?'_**

_'Yes. At least I know you're in good hands, Sister. I'm sure Thundercracker and Skywarp are happy for you too, wherever they are.'_

_**'I hope they are, old friend. May as well tell the twins now, let them circulate it round base for me.'**_ Soundwave laughed.

_'Have fun.'_ She sighed, severing the link. She felt Cyclonus tug at their bond, trying to get her attention.

"Soundwave." She said, and he nodded in understanding.

"He appreciates what you did, asking him for permission." Her mate looked slightly sheepish.

"It felt wrong for some reason, going behind his back." She smiled.

"I'm going to do something I'm most probably going to regret later, okay?" He rose an optic ridge, worry seeping through the bond.

"And what might that be?"

"News travels faster around the base when it comes out of the twins' vocalisers." That was all she needed to say, he caught her drift.

"Very well. The others would find out sooner or later, best to get it over with I suppose." Twilight nodded, stopping just outside the throne room's door.

_**'Oi, demon twins, listen up!'**_ She shouted through a comm. link.

_'Ma'am yes ma'am!'_

_'What is it, 'Lighter?' _Twilight couldn't help but giggle, they sounded so much like Skywarp when they said that. Taking in a deep breath, she decided to say it quickly to get it over with.

**_'Just wanted to let you know that Cyclonus and I weren't at base last night because we went off to a remote planet and bonded. Have fun spreading the news around base.'_** And with that said, she severed the link. The twins smirked to themselves from where they sat on Soundwave's berth.

"Not bad, Twi, not bad _at all_."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.<strong>


	57. Astrotrain

**Apparently my school felt the need to remind me that they love ruining my weekends with crap-loads of homework =P. Anyway, thanks to _TheSuperiorVision _for reviewing! Written whilst listening to the Jurassic Park theme, cos it's epic =D. Don't have much to say, so, on with the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Needless to say, the twins got the word around base in record time. Every corridor Cyclonus and Twilight walked down, they would receive cheers and congratulations. Even Galvatron looked happy, or so it seemed to Cyclonus. As the jet walked into the throne room, he saw his leader smirking at him.<p>

"Congratulations, Cyclonus." The SIC bowed in respect.

"Thank you, Mighty Galvatron. I will forever be grateful that you gave me permission to bond with her." The warlord cocked his head to the side, confusion showing on his face-plates.

"Why wouldn't I have?" His second in command shifted slightly, nervous under his master's gaze.

"Before I fell in love with Twilight, I believed that a bonded couple in an army would only be a hindrance, I was unsure whether you shared my past views." Galvatron chuckled.

"Ah, I would usually agree, but you and Twilight are not like normal spark-mates. You know that professional matters come first, and you are never side-tracked by each-other on the battlefield, unless one of you suffers a severe injury. You both know full well that you can take care of yourselves."

"Besides, you two are my most trusted soldiers, all this has done is made you even more synchronised with each-other. I do not regret giving you permission, Cyclonus, it was my pleasure." The purple jet allowed himself a small smile.

"Well, thank you, Mighty Galvatron. Twilight also sends her thanks, if she hasn't already told you." The darker purple mech waved off his thanks and his loyal lieutenant picked up the stack of datapads he had to fill out and left for his shared quarters.

* * *

><p>Twilight leaned back in her chair in the control room, putting down her stylus and chucking her final report onto her finished pile quite carelessly. As she stood to pick up the stack, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to face whoever was behind her, she smiled politely when she saw Astrotrain.<p>

"Hello, Astrotrain, anything I can help you with?" He shook his head

"Nahh, I just wanted to say congrats. I don't think we've properly spoken since... Well..."

"The incident at Iacon?" He nodded.

"It doesn't bother me, but thanks for the concern."

"Okay, well, I was... Err... I was wonderin' if you'd... Ya know... Like to go out for a cube of energon later?" She rose an optic ridge at him.

"Astrotrain... The reason you came over here was to say congratulations. I _am_ bonded, you know." He chuckled.

"Not like that, just as... Well... Friends, I guess. There's something I could really use your help with, and I don't wanna risk any other 'Cons hearin'." She nodded.

"No problem, I'll meet you at the base entrance at nine. If I'm not there on time, it means that Cyclonus has locked me up in our quarters." He laughed, but she noticed that there was some sort of... Anxiety in his optics.

"Thanks, Twilight, I really appreciate this. If Cyclonus gets suspicious and doesn't want ya goin', I understand." She rolled her optics.

"_Please_, I may be bonded to him but he doesn't _own_ me." He smiled slightly, and she noted his nervousness once again.

"Well, thanks again, Twilight, I'd better go." He ran off, leaving a very confused femme behind. She sighed, it wasn't like she could do anything until later tonight. He was adamant that no other Decepticon should hear what he had to say. So why her?

_'Primus knows. Hears to hoping the overprotective spark-mate doesn't blow an energon line, or, better yet, confine me to our quarters.'_ She picked up the pile of signed reports, placing them on the desks of whichever Decepticon they were addressed to, and then headed for her quarters.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.<strong>


	58. Persuasion

****The long chapter was short-lived, it seems. This one's pretty short again =P. **Written whilst listening to Overrated (Everything is) by Less Than Jake, When They Come For Me by Linkin Park, and Awake and Alive by Skillet. Thank you to _TheSuperiorVision_ and _Corevil_ for reviewing!**

* * *

><p>Twilight typed in the access code to her quarters, shutting the door as quietly as she could behind her. Cyclonus heard it, however, and turned in his chair to face her.<p>

"What's the matter with you? You're not usually so... Quiet." She rolled her optics.

"Hello to you too. There's nothing wrong, what makes you think that?" He rose an optic ridge, standing and walking over to her.

"Sorry, you just look a bit... Out of it." He said as he wrapped his arms around her. She sighed.

"I'm going to tell you something, and I need you to just listen to me. Don't freak out, okay?" Worry and an edge of panic flowed freely from his end of the bond. She calmed him down, sending soothing waves of reassurance. Taking in a deep breath, she prepared herself.

"I'm going out for energon later tonight with Astrotrain. I'll be back before midnight, so don't start-"

"No, you're not." She rolled her optics and gently pushed his arms away.

"I wasn't asking for permission, love."

"What if he takes advantage of you? What if he gets you over-energised and then-"

"I'm going to have one cube throughout the night, and I'll be back before midnight. I can take care of myself, Cyclonus. If I need you, I'll tug on the bond."

"Funny you should mention the bond. Because apparently you don't realise that you _are_, in fact, bonded and shouldn't be going out for drinks with random Decepticons!"

"Random? Astrotrain's _hardly_ random, Cyclonus." His optics flared and she winced as she heard the hidden meaning in her words that she'd accidentally sent across.

"Oh, do you have a 'history' with him, too? Another one that you_ forgot_ to tell me about?" She growled, and then realisation dawned on her.

"Are you..._ Jealous_?" He stiffened, crossing his arms.

"No!" He snapped. She laughed, all her previous anger at his statement floating away.

"You're_ jealous_!"

"I am _not_, femme!" She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well, you're very sweet when you're jealous." He grunted, not meeting her optics. Sighing, she left him to go sit on their berth.

"Listen, love, I know I probably went about that the wrong way, but Astrotrain... He seems really worried about something, and he's come to me for help. I'm not..." She carried on the rest of her sentence through the bond, too ashamed of herself for even _thinking_ it to speak it out loud.

"I didn't think _that_ for a moment." He said quietly, still not facing her.

"Good. I promise you, Cyclonus, if he tries something, unlikely as it is, I'll contact you straight away." He sat down beside her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her down onto the berth.

"I know you'll be fine. But that won't stop me from worrying. Just be careful, okay?" She giggled.

"I always am." He rolled his optics.

"Of _course_ you are, dear. Now then," He purred into her audio,

"Are you sure there's _nothing_ I can do to get you to stay?" She smiled, pecking him on the cheek.

"_Very_ tempting, but no." He sighed, releasing her after giving her a quick kiss.

"It was worth a shot."

"I'll see you soon then, love."

"If you're not back in my arms before midnight I _will_ send out a search party." She rolled her optics, laughing as she made her way to the door.

"I don't doubt that for a second." She smiled and left, heading for the base entrance.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.<strong>


	59. Warehouse

**I have nothing else to do, so I'm probably just going to upload all day. Written whilst listening to Master Passion Greed, Elvenpath and Wishmaster by Nightwish. Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_ for reviewing! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Astrotrain met Twilight at Chaar's base's entrance in his alt mode, letting her board. When they were out of the planet's sight, Twilight sighed.<p>

"Where are we going?"

"To this planet I was scoutin' yesterday for Galvatron."

"We'll have to be quick, Galvatron doesn't know that we've left and I promised Cyclonus I'd be back before midnight." She heard Astrotrain chuckle.

"So, he's still overprotective?" She rolled her optics.

"Trust me, you don't know the half of it." They sat in silence for a while until Astrotrain announced,

"Okay, here we are." The shuttle landed on the tiny excuse for a planet and Twilight got out, letting him transform. He led her into a small bar, full of strange creatures from all different planets. They were seated at a table and given a cube of energon each, before Astrotrain started to talk.

"Right, so I was scoutin' this planet, and I heard this scream that sounded like a femme. So I transformed and went over to this dead-end alleyway where the noise seemed to be comin' from. There was this group of mechs crowding around a femme and her sparkling. So I dealt with them, and turned around to ask the femme if she was alright, but the sparkling was standin' in front of her, and she said..."

"What did the sparkling say, Astrotrain?" The triple changer sighed, sending the femme opposite him an audio file. She opened it, listening intently.

_:You better stay away from us! If you try and hurt us, I'll call Twilight! She's the strongest Decepticon I know! She'll come and kick your aft!:_ The femme gasped. She knew that voice. She recognised it as soon as the youngling started to speak.

"What did they look like?" He shrugged.

"It was too dark to see them, but I know that the femme had pink optics and the youngling had really bright purple ones." Standing abruptly, Twilight turned to Astrotrain.

"Astrotrain, where are they?"

* * *

><p>The triple changer stood, leading Twilight out of the bar after they'd downed their energon cubes.<p>

"Follow me." They ran down the old streets, seeing elderly couples walking their cyber-dogs and sparklings playing on the pavement. She followed Astrotrain all the way to an abandoned warehouse.

"In here." She rolled her optics, sighing.

_'Deja vu.'_ She flipped her visor down, carefully opening the door. The warehouse was flooded with light, and she saw a familiar light blue femme shield her pale pink optics as they slowly adjusted to the brightness.

"T-Twilight!" The femme stared up in awe at the triple changer she met yesterday and the Decepticon femme that saved her life months ago.

"Blizzard." Twilight nodded to the femme with a smile, looking around for the sparkling that couldn't be far away. She was soon tackled to the floor.

"Twilight! You came back!" She smiled warmly, sitting up and unlatching Starlight's arms from around her neck.

"Hello, little one. How've you been?" The small femme shrugged, standing and stepping back to her mother's side. Blizzard spoke up.

"Not so good. After New Kaon was ransacked, Ultra Magnus found us and took us in." Blizzard seemed to understand that she needed to keep that part of their first meeting on the down low, she wasn't sure how much this triple changer knew.

"After we were both free to go, we tried to find somewhere to stay, and an... unfortunate turn of events found us on the streets." Twilight sighed, hugging the now sobbing Autobot.

"You should have stayed with the Autobots." Blizzard sighed.

"I didn't want Starlight involved in this war. All I wanted was the best for my little femme. Was that too much to ask?" Twilight shook her head.

"No, it wasn't. I understand how you feel right now, but you must be strong. I'll see what I can do for you, but you must remember, I am still a Decepticon." Astrotrain cleared his throat from where he stood in the doorway. Twilight walked towards him.

"You're not leaving, are you?" Starlight asked, taking the femme's hand. She turned and shook her head.

"No, I'll be right back, just give me a moment." She stepped out of the warehouse with Astrotrain in tow.

"You know these two?" She nodded.

"They're... Old friends of mine. Thank you for telling me about this, Astrotrain, I can take it from here."

"No problem. But how are you gonna get back to Chaar?"

"I'll find the energy to fly, somehow." She tried to comm. Cyclonus, but she wasn't picking up any signal.

"Comm. links are down on this planet, and Cyclonus must be in a meeting or something, because he's not answering through the bond. Can you tell him where I am? I have a feeling I'm not going to be back before midnight." He nodded, transforming and taking off. Twilight walked back into the warehouse to see a crying Starlight, Blizzard comforting her whilst blinking back tears of her own. Twilight wrapped them both in her arms.

"You're both safe now, I promise."

* * *

><p><strong>I was going to make this chapter end on a cliffy, but you wouldn't believe how short it would've been =P.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, other than Twilight, Starlight and Blizzard.**

**P.S - The other day one of my friends pointed out that the music that inspires the chapter usually doesn't tie in to the mood of the chapter. That's because I just put my iPod on shuffle and listen to whatever comes on. If that was bothering or confusing any of you, then you now have your answer XD. **


	60. Reunion

**After saying I was going to spend all day updating, this is probably going to be the last update for today ^^;. I'd completely forgotten about something I needed to do today, so sorry guys =P. Written whilst listening to Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin park, as well as With Arms Wide Open by Creed.**

* * *

><p>Astrotrain was almost sweating with anxiety. He knew Cyclonus would have his aft in a smelter as soon as he said that Twilight wasn't coming back. How could he possibly word the news in a way that wouldn't sound suspicious? There was no way of doing it. He stood outside Cyclonus' and Twilight's quarters like an idiot before finally getting the courage to knock. Cyclonus opened it almost immediately, startling the shuttle.<p>

"Astrotrain? Where's Twilight?" The triple changer's frame practically rattled.

"Well... Err... About that-"

"Where is she, Astrotrain?" Cyclonus' tone was sharp, his patience thin.

"She's on the planet I took her to. She told me to tell you that she wasn't going to be back before midnight-" The SIC's hand closed around the train's throat, and he was slammed into the wall.

"What did you do?" The jet growled.

"I didn't do anything! The comms are down on the planet and she told me to pass on the message, honest! Use your bond to contact her if you don't believe me!" Cyclonus let go of Astrotrain, doing as he suggested. He felt her trying to reassure him.

_~Twilight, what's going on?~_

**_~It's alright, Cyclonus. I'm just dealing with something, and then I'll be back.~_**

_~Forget that, I'm heading for your location now.~_

_**~No you're not, Cyclonus.~**_

_~I wasn't asking for permission.~_ He turned to Astrotrain.

"Apologies. I shouldn't have acted like I did. Thank you for relaying the message." Cyclonus shut his quarters' door after him, running to the base entrance and transforming without stopping. Astrotrain picked himself up and headed for his quarters. He thought that went pretty well, considering he could have been offlined on the spot.

* * *

><p>Twilight, Starlight and Blizzard had all made their way to the very back of the warehouse when there was a very faint noise coming from the other end. Only Starlight heard it. She stood, making Blizzard and Twilight stand up too.<p>

"What is it, dear?" The little femme sighed.

"I just need a little breather, I'm going to go have a walk around if that's okay." Blizzard turned to Twilight. The Decepticon raised an optic ridge.

"I guess it's okay, just be careful and comm. me if you need me." Starlight nodded, running off. She didn't want to worry her mother or Twilight, just incase it wasn't an attacker. She heard that noise again, and she knew that someone was in the room with her. Fear gnawed at her spark when she saw cold, red optics turn in her direction, and she dimmed her own as much as she could.

But she knew she'd been spotted, because those ruby optics never left her hiding place.

"A-Astrotrain?" She called out, remembering the name of the triple changer who had been kind to them and brought Twilight. The Decepticon didn't answer her, and she started to panic. Why had she revealed her position? Oh, she hoped it wasn't the aggressive mech with the crown like feature on his head.

"Astrotrain? W-Who's there?" Suddenly, she'd lost sight of the red optics. Starlight screamed as a hand fell onto her shoulder.

"It's alright, young one, I will not harm you." She stiffened, turning slowly. Looking up into the Decepticon's optics, she gulped. This mech was even taller than Twilight. He quickly kneeled down, trying to get to her level, but he still towered over her. He had light purple armour and bright white face-plates. She started to step back slightly, shaking.

"Calm yourself, child. I will not hurt you, I'm just looking for Twilight."

"Y-You're... You're looking... For Twilight?" He nodded, smiling kindly.

"Yes, my designation is Cyclonus, I'm Twilight's bond-mate." She cocked her head to the side, turning up the brightness of her optics.

"She told me she didn't have a spark-mate." He stood.

"She didn't when you first met her." Starlight seemed to believe this.

"Okay, I can take you to her. My momma's with her too, and she might freak out when she first to sees you." Cyclonus raised an optic ridge.

"Are you no longer scared?" She rolled her optics.

"Come on sir, we don't have time for this!" She grabbed his hand and started to drag him to the two femmes on the other side of the warehouse. He smiled fondly down at the youngling. His mind started to wander as he followed the little femme. He wouldn't mind a sparkling, he thought. Maybe it was time to speak to Twilight.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, other than Twilight, Starlight and Blizzard.<strong>


	61. Plan

**Sorry guys, this chapter's really short. Written whilst listening to The Compound by Patrick Doyle, and Einstein's Wrong by Steve Jablonsky (See, I'm working on getting the music to fit the mood ;]). Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_ for reviewing! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight was pacing around the back room of the warehouse when she heard Blizzard let out a scream.<p>

"Starlight come here! Get away from him!" The Decepticon femme sunk back into the shadows, claw blades deploying. She rushed the assailant, knocking him to the floor and pressing her forearm across his neck.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" She recognised the voice instantly, getting back to her feet and retracting her claw blades.

"What the frag are you doing here, Cyclonus?" He got up, frowning at her.

"I was worried about you!"

"I told you I was fine!" He rolled his optics, but they widened when he felt embarrassment flooding through their bond.

_**~If you are... Ashamed of me for helping these two again, I understand.~**_

_~**That's** why you didn't want me to come here? Autobots or not, love, she's a helpless femme with an equally as helpless sparkling. I... Failed to realise that before.~_ She smiled at him and then turned to Blizzard.

"Relax, Blizzard. This is Cyclonus, my sparkmate." This seemed to calm the femme a bit. Cyclonus bowed slightly.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Y-You too." Twilight took Blizzard's hand after the femme had picked up Starlight.

_**~They have nowhere to go, Cyclonus. Astrotrain saw them being attacked. He intervened at the right time, but Starlight thought he was going to hurt them, so she said that if he did, she'd get me to come and kick his aft. That's why he brought me here.~**_

_~I understand.~_ She sighed.

"We have to help them somehow." He sighed back at her.

"I'd love to, but what can we do? It's not like we can sneak them into our quarters. Galvatron would find us out sooner or later." She groaned, grinding her foot into the warehouse floor.

"There has to be _something_!" Blizzard cleared her throat.

"I believe... I have an idea. It's risky for all of us, but there's a high possibility that it will work." So, as the femme started voicing her idea, the two Autobots and the two Decepticons sat down to formulate the best - and least life-risking - plan they could.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Blizzard, and Starlight.<strong>


	62. Guests

**Thought I'd upload another chapter, since the last one was so short. Written whilst listening to Tears After the Cloudy Weather from the Pokemon anime soundtrack. Hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

><p>The four Cybertronians flew back to Chaar, Cyclonus carrying Blizzard and Twilight carrying Starlight. Blizzard was clinging to Cyclonus for dear life. He looked down at her, managing to loosen her death-grip enough to move his neck.<p>

"Are you alright, ma'am?" She nodded, then shook her head.

"Not really, no. I hate flying, it makes me feel sick." The SIC smiled reassuringly.

"If it's the altitude that affects you, I'll fly lower." She shook her head again.

"It's not that, I just... Don't feel safe."

"I assure you, ma'am, I will not drop you." She giggled.

"Not like that. It's just... My spark-mate was a flier. He tried to teach me a technique, and I ended up falling. I was injured pretty badly, and it's put me off of it ever since. I know you won't drop me, I just don't like flying."

"There's not much I can do, I'm afraid. I can slow down, if that would make you feel any better."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

"You're in good hands, Blizzard." Twilight said before dropping Starlight and then diving down and catching her.

"Which is more than I can say for your daughter." Cyclonus remarked, rolled his optics. Blizzard laughed as Starlight yelled,

"Again! Again!"

"Primus help you if you have sparklings." Cyclonus chuckled.

"Primus help the sparkling."

* * *

><p>Cyclonus and Twilight touched ground on Chaar far enough away from the Decepticon base for whoever was on patrol not to see them. They put stasis cuffs on the two Autobot femmes and then started to walk them to base. Lady Luck seemed to be smiling down upon them as Astrotrain was on patrol duty. He said nothing, inclining his head to them in respect, to which the two commanders did the same.<p>

Luckily, the hallways were empty as they made their way to the throne room. When they arrived, Galvatron was facing away from them. Scourge, however, was not.

"What the _frag_?" Galvatron whipped round, optics widening at what he saw.

"Cyclonus, Twilight, what is this?" Twilight put on her trademark smirk and stepped forward, Starlight still in her arms.

"The two must have crash landed on Chaar recently. I was on patrol an hour ago, covering for Astrotrain who had some reports to fill out, when I spotted the femme and her youngling. With your permission, Mighty Galvatron, I would like them to stay with Cyclonus and myself. I can make sure that they do not contact any Autobot forces, and, when the time is right, we may use them as bait for an ambush." Galvatron chuckled, that dangerous glint in his eye.

"Yes, I believe that will do just fine. Cyclonus, gather the troops and bring them here. Twilight, you will inform them of our new... _Guests_." Blizzard shuddered and Starlight buried her head in the crook of Twilight's neck. The two Decepticons nodded.

"Yes, Mighty Galvatron." They said in unison. Twilight took ahold of Blizzard's forearm, pulling her over to the throne.

"Ignore the wolf whistles and the unnerving stares. _None_ of them are laying a hand on either of you, I promise." She muttered into the femme's audio. The light blue Autobot shakily nodded. Why did she agree to this?

* * *

><p>Galvatron fired his cannon into the air as a warning for all the cheers and wolf whistles to stop. Blizzard looked down at the floor, she didn't want to see any of the disgusting smirks on the Decepticons' face-plates. Twilight explained what the femme was here for, and where she would be staying.<p>

"If _any_ of you lay a hand on either of them, you'll have to deal with _me_." She growled, claw blades shooting out of their casing. _That_ silenced the crowd of mechs. As the Decepticon femme led the Autobot and her daughter through the crowd and to their quarters, she saw Blitzwing's hand moving towards Blizzard's aft. In one quick, liquid smooth movement, the hand was no longer attached to it's arm.

"Clean yourself up, you pathetic waste of metal." Twilight snarled at him.

"T-Thank you." Blizzard stammered as they got out and into the empty corridors.

"No problem. Listen, and this applies to you as well, Starlight," Twilight said, nudging the little femme that had her arms and legs wrapped around her frame.

"I know both of you will want to go outside and get some fresh air, but it's way too risky, unless I'm with you. We have private wash racks, so you don't have to use the 'public' ones. We also have an energon dispenser, so you shouldn't need to go to the rec room. I'll stay in our quarters as much as I can, and if I'm not in, I'll get Cyclonus to stay. If neither of us are in, don't answer the door. It's not going to be us, because we wouldn't _knock_." After Blizzard shot her a look, Twilight rolled her optics.

"Yes, believe it or not, _some_ mechs here will think you're stupid enough to fall for that." The femme punched in her access code, opening the door to her shared quarters. Cyclonus had beaten her there, and was sat at his desk. He turned to them.

"Scourge is bringing a spare berth from the med bay, he should be here in a moment." Twilight sighed.

"Scourge? Great. Starlight, when Scourge comes over, cover your audios, he's an idiot. Blizzard, it would be best if you ignored him, he has an inappropriate sense of humour." No sooner had she said that than there was a knock at the door. Sighing once more, she gave Starlight to Blizzard, who took a seat on Twilight's desk chair. The black and red femme opened the door.

"Hey, Twilight." Scourge greeted cheerfully, passing the femme the spare berth, she took it into her quarters and placed it against the wall before going back to the doorway.

"Thank you, Scourge." She moved to close the door, but he held it open.

"Are you _sure_ you don't need any help?" She rolled her optics, hearing the message in his tone.

"You want to see a femme? You've just seen a femme," she indicated to herself.

"You want to see a sparkling? Go find one of the Sweeps, they're practically your sparklings. Goodbye, Scourge." And with that, she slammed the door in his face. She turned around to find three pairs of optics on her frame.

"Well played." Blizzard giggled. Starlight was laughing madly, and Cyclonus was smiling at her. Twilight shrugged, leaning on Cyclonus' chair.

"I'm used to it." The jet stood, turning to his spark-mate.

"Let's get this berth secured then." She nodded.

* * *

><p>Within moments, they were done, and Starlight had fallen asleep on the new berth. Blizzard hugged Twilight, smiling.<p>

"Thank you so much, both of you." She moved over to hug Cyclonus, who looked surprised, but returned the kind gesture. Twilight giggled.

"It's nothing, now go on, get some rest. I'll be awake quite early, but you're welcome to sleep in for as long as Cyclonus does if you want." The mech growled, elbowing his mate.

"Shut up, femme." She laughed.

"Goodnight, you two." They both said goodnight to Blizzard, who curled up with her daughter on their berth. Twilight stood smiling sadly at them for a while until Cyclonus took her hand and pulled her down onto their berth.

"You know, you didn't have to look so gobsmacked when she hugged you."

"I didn't know whether you'd be mad." Twilight giggled quietly.

"Unlike you, love, I don't get jealous every time you so much as_ look_ in another femme's general direction." Cyclonus rolled his optics.

"Yes, well, that's different. There are only three femmes on this whole _planet_, including you, and one of them's a sparkling. This base is full of perverted mechs who let their hands - and thoughts - wander too far." She giggled.

"Yes it is. In fact, I'm lying right next to one." He punched her lightly on the shoulder before capturing her lips in a kiss. She laughed quietly.

"Told you." She rolled over on the berth so she was facing away from him, and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back into his chest. After a moment's silence, he whispered in her audio,

"You want a sparkling." It wasn't a question. She tensed in his hold.

"What makes you think that?" She asked just as quietly, so as not to wake the other femmes in the room.

"I can tell by the way you look at Starlight. You once told me that you've always wanted a sparkling, and that you've imagined yourself as a mother before. I can see that now."

"...Yes, I want one, but I don't think I'm comfortable with raising one in the middle of a war. Do _you_ want one?" She turned around again to send him a curious look, optic ridge raised.

"It would be nice, even though I have next to no experience with them." He smiled and kissed her forehead, murmuring into her audio,

"The war's not ending any time soon, love." She didn't reply, and just rested her head on his chest-plate before muttering,

"Goodnight, Cyclonus." He sighed.

"Goodnight."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Blizzard, and Starlight.<strong>


	63. Melody

**You'll be pleased to know that this chapter isn't ridiculously short. Thank you to _TheSuperiorVision_, _Corevil _(I know you PM'd your review but it still counts XD), and _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing, and a huge thank you to _Sami-SDGForce_ for reviewing, faving the story and me, _and_ adding me and this story to their alert lists! Thank you so much =D! Written whilst listening to In The End by Linkin Park, as well as the piano cover. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight sat up, stretching. Looking around her quarters, she saw that her spark-mate and their two 'guests' were still deep in recharge. It had been a week since Blizzard and Starlight moved in with them, and they were both doing fine. Nobody had tried anything, because the femmes rarely left the safety of the SIC and his bond-mate's quarters, and if they did, Twilight was always with them.<p>

She stood up, moving quietly towards the energon dispenser. As the cube filled, she heard a yawn from the spare berth. She turned, seeing Starlight wake up slightly, then roll over and fall back into recharge. Twilight smiled softly, picked up her cube and sat in her chair, taking a sip. Her optics dimmed as she remembered Cyclonus' words from last week. _Was_ she ready for a sparkling? Was _he_? Would Galvatron even_ let_ them? She sighed.

Twilight had wanted a sparkling since she was young, but she'd quickly realised that because of the war - which started when she was eighteen - that probably wasn't going to happen. Helping Soundwave raise his creations had briefly filled that aching hole in her spark, and then Megatron had torn her away from them, as well as her 'brothers'.

Shaking her head and snapping out of her reverie, she downed her energon cube and walked out of the door, heading for the control room to pick up any reports she had to fill out.

* * *

><p>Cyclonus woke up mere moments after his mate had left the room. He looked around to see Starlight sit up, yawning. She stared at him for a moment, blinking, until she stopped seeing double.<p>

"Oh, good morning Mister Cyclonus." He chuckled, standing and heading for the energon dispenser.

"Morning Starlight. Did you have a nice recharge?" She nodded, smiling.

"Yes, thank you. Did you?" He smiled back at her.

"I did." After filling up two cubes, Cyclonus passed one to the youngling.

"Thanks." She said quietly before sipping it. He chuckled.

"You don't have to be so... Polite all the time." She grinned, giggling. As Starlight and the Decepticon second in command finished off their cubes, Blizzard began to stir.

"Morning, you two." She said, stretching.

"Morning, momma!"

"Good morning, Blizzard." The light blue femme got up and placed an empty cube under the energon dispenser's nozzle, turning it on. She sent the machine a confused look and then turned to Cyclonus when it started making buzzing noises.

"Uhh, Cyclonus, I don't think it's supposed to be making those sounds?" Starlight hid under the berth, convinced the dispenser was about to explode. Cyclonus made his way over, hearing the noise for himself as he got closer. He turned it off and back on again, but it just continued to make that noise.

"Must be broken. I'll go to the Constructicons and see if they can fix it. I'll get you a cube of energon on the way."

"You don't have to do that, it's fine." He shook his head.

"Twilight'll kick my aft if I let you go and get it by yourself, and unless you want to come with me..." She shook her head.

"I get your point. Thank you, Cyclonus." He left the room. Blizzard sighed, turning the buzzing dispenser off after sending it an annoyed glare. The sound stopped, and she smiled at her sparkling, still hidden under the berth.

"You can come out now, dear." Starlight smiled, hopping back up onto the berth. Blizzard sent her smile before saying,

"I'm just going to have a wash, okay? Don't run off." The young femme nodded, going to sit on the window-ledge. When she heard the shower running, she smiled, staring out of the window. Chaar wasn't exactly a beautiful planet, but it's sunset certainly made up for that. The femme leant back, trying to get a better look at the moon that hung quite high in the sky.

She leant back a little too far, however, falling onto Twilight's desk and rolling off of it. In an attempt to stop her fall, she used the desk's drawer handles as steps and climbed back up. She accidentally pushed the top one open, her foot landing inside it and knocking a metal box out.

_'Oh no, I hope I haven't broken anything!'_ After making sure everything else in the drawer was in perfect shape, she hopped off of the desk and picked up the box. It didn't seem to be broken, and she sighed with relief. Looking around to make sure that Twilight and Cyclonus hadn't come back and her mother was still in the wash racks, the little femme decided to take a closer look at the box. It was quite small, she could hold it securely in both of her palms.

The colours were quite mismatched, with the lid being navy and yellow, the front being red, white and blue, and the two sides being black and purple and blue and red. Turning it round in her hand, Starlight saw that the back was black with red zig-zags, just like Twilight's armour.

Optics searching the room again nervously, the young femme took a peek inside the box. She almost jumped in surprise when music started playing. After getting over her initial shock, she listened closely to the melody. The song sounded... Sad. Looking back inside it, she saw a little holo-image projector. Before she could take a look at the pictures stored on it, the door suddenly opened.

"Hey, Starlight I-" Twilight froze at the sound of the melody playing in the room. Crimson red optics turning down towards the sheepish youngling, she saw the music box in one hand and the holo-image projector she kept in there in the other.

"Where did you find that?" She asked quietly.

"Twilight... I didn't mean to-"

"_Where_ did you_ find_ it?" She snapped. Starlight flinched.

"I was sitting by the window and I fell and held onto your desk but I accidentally kicked a draw open and knocked this out of it! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" The Decepticon femme sighed, kneeling down to the light blue Autobot's level.

"No, no, it's fine. I should not have snapped at you like that, I overreacted. You're young, it's natural for you to be curious." The little femme shook her head, putting the projector back into the box before closing it and handing it to Twilight.

"And I shouldn't have opened the box. Whatever was in there was none of my business, I'm sorry." Twilight shook her head, smiling softly down at the youngling.

"That's alright. Sorry for yelling. We good?" Starlight high-fived the Decepticon.

"We're good." The two of them giggled and the older femme put the music box on her desk before sitting at her chair, the Autobot sparkling in her lap.

"It has a lovely song inside it." The little femme whispered after a moment's silence.

"Yes, it does." The black and red Cybertronian flipped the lid of the music box, letting the melody play out again. Starlight rested her head on Twilight's shoulder, who wrote her signature down on the report before chucking it into a desk drawer.

"Did you look at the photos on that projector?" She asked the youngling. Her purple optics dimmed with sheepishness.

"I was about to, but no." Twilight grinned, spinning her chair before propping her feet up on the edge of her berth. She reached inside the music box before shutting it's lid, stopping the music. She turned on the projector and Starlight shifted slightly in her lap as they waited for it to load.

"Lets have a look then. You'll probably get the chance to laugh at some embarrassing photos of me that I've completely forgotten about."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story other than Twilight, Starlight and Blizzard.<strong>


	64. Brothers

**Okay, so I'm not in the brightest of moods because my German teacher only just told me _today_ that I have a German test _in two days_, not giving my class a lot of time to revise =P. Anyway, thanks to _Corevil_ for reviewing, and to_ TheSuperiorVision _for reviewing, and adding me and this story to their alert lists! Written whilst listening to Brothers Under The Sun by Bryan Adams and How To Save a Life by The Fray. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Twilight?" The femme paused, hand hovering over the 'next' button of the holo-image projector.<p>

"What is it, youngling?" Starlight tilted her head.

"You told me you had five brothers, but there's only been four in your pictures so far. Who's the fifth one?" Twilight tensed, sighing.

"...Ultra Magnus. Ultra Magnus _was_ the fifth brother. He's an Autobot now, obviously, and I deleted any pictures of him long ago." The little femme shifted in the larger femme's lap. Starlight was very good - or so she'd been told by her creators - at reading people's emotions by focusing on their optics.

It was something her father was good at, and she believed that now was the time to have a go. She could certainly make out anger, and hate. But there was some sort of... Sadness, or remorse, that seemed extremely out of place in a Decepticon. Then again, this was_ Twilight_ she was looking at.

"Do you... Regret that? Deleting your memories of him?" The Decepticon soldier raised an optic ridge, but answered anyway.

"...I don't know." Starlight turned back around to face the pictures, and the two began flicking through them again.

* * *

><p>Cyclonus opened the door to his quarters. Hearing Twilight's voice and Starlight's giggles, he shut the door behind him as quietly as he could. Smiling, he leaned against the wall, watching them.<p>

"-And this was when Skywarp thought it would be funny to push Starscream down the longest flight of stairs on Cybertron." The two of them were looking at a holo-image projector. The next picture must have been back at the start of the album, because Twilight said,

"Oh, that must be it." Starlight giggled.

"They were funny. Thank you for showing me." Twilight smiled.

"No problem, lovely." Cyclonus cleared his throat. Both their heads snapped up in his direction.

"Oh, hello Mister Cyclonus." Starlight smiled, jumping off of the Decepticon's lap and walking over to the wash racks.

"I'll go and get a wash with momma, see you two in a minute." They both nodded, and the little femme slipped through the wash racks' door. Twilight turned off the holo-image projector, quickly placing it back into the music box.

"What, are there pictures I'm not allowed to see?" He chuckled. She sighed, not answering his question.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked quietly. He shrugged.

"Something about Starscream getting pushed down stairs by Skywarp. Is there something wrong, love?" He walked up to her, pulling her out of the seat and then into his lap as he sat on the edge of their berth. She shook her head. He reached for the music box, taking it into his hand.

_~May I?~_ She shrugged.

_**~I don't mind.~**_ He opened it slowly, as if he was cautious about what was inside it. Cyclonus gasped, recognising the melody that it was programmed to play almost instantly.

"This song..." She nodded.

"Yeah. Bit of a coincidence, is it not? The box was a gift from my 'brothers', it was given to me two years before the war started." She took out the holo-image projector, passing it to her bond-mate.

"Here, take a look if you want. There are a few stupid ones of me on there, but it's not like I could've kept it hidden forever." She crawled off of his lap to lie down on the berth. He stroked her leg for a moment before moving to sit in his chair, turning on the projector. Flicking through the photos, he finally saw for his own eyes a younger Twilight, a Twilight that had lived during the years before the war.

He paused for a while on one of her, Soundwave, Thundercracker, Skywarp and Starscream. They were all holding golden-trimmed datapads and had medals slung around their necks. Cyclonus realised that the photo had been taken on the day the five of them graduated from academy. Giving his head a mental shake to bring himself back to the real world, the SIC clicked on the 'next' button.

He chuckled quietly at the picture of Starscream falling down a huge flight of stairs. Skywarp was standing at the top of them, laughing wildly, Thundercracker was face-palming, and Twilight was standing at the bottom of the stairs, a half worried, half amused look on her face, getting ready to catch her 'brother'. Cyclonus looked down at the femme, feeling her pain through their bond and seeing the hurt in her optics.

"You miss them." She sighed, kissing his cheek when he lay down beside her after putting the projector away.

"Of course I do. But their offlining gave me you. And if I had to trade you to get them back, I wouldn't. Okay, so it gave me Scourge as well, but still, you're worth having to put up with him." He laughed.

"...Thank you, for saying that. I was getting worried for a moment then." She giggled, rolling her optics.

"I know you were. But it was the truth, you can be sure of that. I love you, Cyclonus, and that will never change." He smiled.

"I love you, too." The faint sound of running water stopped, and the two Decepticons sat up. The dryers were heard before Blizzard and Starlight stepped out of the wash racks. The Autobot femme smiled.

"I think we're going to have an early night, Starlight's tired." The sparkmates nodded.

"No problem, have a nice recharge." Blizzard returned the comment before lying down on the spare berth. Starlight ran up to Twilight and tackled her into a hug, wrapping her arms around her neck.

"Sorry about earlier," She whispered, "Thank you for showing me your photos. Goodnight, Twilight." The femme smiled, returning the hug.

"No problem, I'm sorry for shouting. Goodnight, lovely." Starlight let go and moved over to Cyclonus. She tried to reach up and wrap her arms around his neck, but he was too tall.

"Could you lean down a little, Mister Cyclonus?" The jet chuckled, picking the young femme up. He wrapped his arms around her as she did the same and pulled him into a hug.

"Goodnight, little one." She smiled.

"Goodnight." And with that, she joined her mother on their berth, falling into recharge almost immediately. The Decepticon soldiers smiled at each-other as they lay down again, Twilight's back pressed against Cyclonus' chest-plate.

"You _cannot_ deny that you want one now." He whispered. She sighed, knowing what he was talking about.

"I didn't _deny_ it in the first place. All I said was that we are in the middle of a _war_ right now and I'm not sure it's the best time to be raising a sparkling. Besides, what will Galvatron say? I doubt he'll want one running around base."

"He already has Frenzy, Rumble, Scourge and the Sweeps. One _actual_ sparkling shouldn't make a difference." They both laughed quietly. Cyclonus remembered something then, tone turning slightly sheepish.

"Actually, Lord Galvatron has already... Expressed his feelings about us having a sparkling." Twilight turned to face him.

"Oh? What did he say then?" Sighing, the jet tried to keep his face-plates their normal colour.

"He was actually... Encouraging it. He reckons a sparkling created by us will be an excellent warrior because of our skills and status." She narrowed her optics.

"You do realise how protective I'm going to be over this hypothetical sparkling, don't you? Unless we say it's ready, it's not fighting this war."

"I fully agree with you, and I'm sure Galvatron will respect that." She sighed.

"I'll... _Consider_ it. As long as you make sure that Galvatron's okay with it. If I end up carrying, I'm not aborting it." Cyclonus grinned, kissing his mate.

"I love you." She rolled her optics, putting on a mock grimace.

"Ugh, I know, that's the part that makes it hard to say no to you." He smiled softly, kissing her again before muttering.

"You don't have to worry, I'll be here for you." She let a small smile creep onto her face-plates.

"I know. You always are. You're a brilliant spark-mate, I don't deserve you." He shook his head, staring at her sternly.

"Don't say that. If anything, it's the other way around." She rolled her optics, pecking his lips.

"Goodnight, Cyclonus." He smiled, pulling her even closer to him.

"Goodnight, my love."

* * *

><p><strong>Please don't ask me how it turned into the evening that quickly, let's just say that Chaar has shorter days than Earth does... Yeah, let's go with that ^^;.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Starlight and Blizzard.**


	65. Bait

**I have a German test tomorrow. And I'm going to fail so badly. Somebody dig me a hole that has WiFi that I can hide in. Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_, _Corevil_ and _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing. Didn't listen to anything whilst writing this, was too busy listening to my little sister scream at me for no reason other than she's an evil little bugger. Hope you enjoy. I'm gonna epically fail this test =|.**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus watched his bond-mate pace around their quarters quietly, trying not to wake the two femmes.<p>

"Would you just sit down? I'm getting tired out just watching you."

"Then offline your optics or look away." She snapped in a playful yet impatient tone. He stood, halting her by wrapping his arms around her waist. Twilight tried to push him away, but he continued to stand his ground.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. What are you getting stressed for? You knew this would happen." She sighed, resting her hands on his chest-plate.

"I know, I know. It's just... I'm worried." He chuckled, sitting down with her in his lap.

"I can see that. You worry too much. They'll be fine. They're better off back with the Autobots than cooped up in here."

"I know. But... What if something goes wrong? What if it doesn't go according to plan?" Cyclonus faked a shocked expression.

"Oh Primus, the day has finally come. Twilight is actually doubting her skills!" She punched his shoulder.

"Frag off." He smirked, planting a kiss on her lips that were pulled down into a mock scowl.

"You'll all be fine. Everything will go to plan." Sighing, she stood.

"Better get the femmes up and ready then."

"I guess you should. Don't doubt yourself, it'll be fine." She nodded.

"Oh, and Twilight?" She turned. He stood and pulled her into a quick yet passionate kiss.

"What was_ that_ for?" He shrugged.

"Luck. Do I really need a reason?" She rolled her optics.

"Yes, you do. Or a better one, at least. Why would_ I_ need_ luck_?" He smirked.

"That's my girl."

* * *

><p>Blizzard shifted slightly in her chains.<p>

"Is all of this _really_ necessary?" Twilight shrugged.

"Whether I think so or not, Galvatron's orders." The Decepticon and her two charges had landed on an Autobot outpost, where Twilight would use them as bait to lead the Autobots into an ambush waiting inside the building the three femmes were currently on the roof of. Twilight held Blizzard's chains in one hand and Starlight's in the other, the latter of whom was half hidden behind the Decepticon femme's leg.

"Twilight... What if Ultra Magnus comes to find us?" The tall femme let go of Blizzard's chains momentarily to kneel down by the youngling.

"It doesn't matter to me. I don't care who comes and gets you as long as they take you straight off the battlefield." The light blue femme nodded. Picking up Blizzard's chains again, Twilight tried to comfort the terrified femme.

"Be strong, my friend. You can do this." The femme's pink optics were bright and full of fear. She nodded, unable to trust her vocaliser. She stepped closer to Twilight's side as the Autobots came into view on the horizon. It didn't take them long to reach the building. Twilight sighed. There was a lot of them.

"Let them go, Twilight! They've done nothing to you!" The femme giggled maliciously.

"Oh, how _flattering_ it is to have such an audience! You want me to let them go? Very well. Who would you like first?" She lifted the two femmes up and dangled them over the edge with ease.

"Twilight, don't!" She tilted her head, visor flipping down in anticipation.

"Don't? You just told me to let them go, did you not?" Ultra Magnus stepped forward.

"Twilight! Leave them there and back away." She cocked her head to the side and frowned.

"Alright then." Setting the two on their feet, she stepped back.

"Good, now put your hands in the air, and come down here." Nodding, the proud Decepticon surrendered. As Magnus put cuffs on the femme, Starlight's purple optics widened with worry.

"Twilight, no!" The youngling didn't care that she'd probably broken their cover, and apparently her mother didn't either, because she fell to her sparkling's level and tried to comfort her as best she could, still restricted by chains.

"It'll be alright, little one." The warrior's words seemed to calm the two female Autobots, and further confuse her opponents. Good, she thought, it was almost time. Any second now...

Blizzard felt vibrations through the roof. That was the signal. She locked optics with the Decepticon, and twitched in a way that resembled a nod. Twilight smirked, using her readily deployed claw blades to cut easily through her cuffs. The crack that was sounded as her elbow met Magnus' face-plates was unbelievably satisfying.

"Decepticons, now!" Twilight yelled, already lost in the sea of panicking Autobots. Out from the building came Astrotrain, the Combaticons and the Stunticons, all charging head on into battle. The black and red femme darted in between mechs, finally getting back to the roof. Starlight watched her slice through her mother's chains with great ease.

It reminded her of how they first met, when Starlight thought that she was nothing but a sparkless monster. Not a moment later and she heard her own chains fall to the ground, then her hand was grabbed by Twilight. Blizzard was also grabbed, and they were led to the basement of the building they had been 'held hostage' on top of.

A black Decepticon feline was there to greet them, running up to Twilight and nuzzling against her leg. The femme smiled softly.

"This is Ravage. He'll be sitting with you until an Autobot finds you in here. If something goes wrong, Ravage will alert me and I'll come and get you. You can trust him, I promise." The two femmes looked wary, but nodded. Twilight pat them both on the shoulder before rushing off. She needed to find Magnus.

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus, it turns out, wasn't hard to find. In fact,<em> he<em> found _her_. He was waiting for her on the ground floor of the building. She growled, mask snapping in place.

"I'm willing to put aside your words from our last... Meeting, if you would be so kind as to shut up and listen to what I'm about to say." He looked ready to say something, but stopped himself.

"The two femmes, Blizzard and Starlight. They're in the basement with Ravage. I assure you, no harm has come to them and none will if you do your job _correctly_ this time and _protect them_. As soon as you arrive, Ravage will be gone, as will the rest of us. The two of them are to _stay_ with the Autobots, understand? Whatever excuses you have, use them. _Do not_ let them leave. I'm not always going to be there to haul their afts out of the fire."

As she began to walk away, Magnus stopped her.

"Cyclonus decided to pass up on the chance to add two more lovely femmes to his surely growing collection?" The femme went rigid, but calmed herself down.

_'It's alright, femme. Stay calm. No-one gives a frag about what he says.'_ But of course, the Autobot continued.

"Or did he_ try_, but you ordered this mission in secret to save them? Why have you saved them and not also saved yourself? Just pretend to get captured, and then you'll be safe."

"I am safe where I am. On Chaar, with Cyclonus. Cyclonus did not try anything, he was a gentlemech to the both of them for the duration of their stay with us."

"...What do you mean, 'with _us_'?" She didn't bother sighing, or turning around.

"I meant exactly what I said, the two femmes stayed in mine and Cyclonus' quarters." Magnus growled quietly.

"You _share_ quarters with _him_?" Twilight couldn't resist the urge to roll her optics.

"It's only to be expected, we _are_ bonded." It took a moment for her words to sink in. And when they did, they hit _hard_.

"You didn't want this. Primus, Twilight, tell me you didn't want this!" She turned then, intent on ending the conversation.

"What you told Cyclonus that day didn't change how he felt about me, and no matter what you want to hear me say, I will always love him. You were once my brother, and if you still were, you would accept this." And she was gone.

"Twilight..." The Autobot second in command sighed, heading for the basement to find the two femmes.

_'I'm sorry.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Did I tell you that I have a German test tomorrow? And that I'm going to epic fail?<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight, Blizzard and Starlight.**


	66. Smitten

**I didn't do as badly on the German test as I thought I would! But I have drama tomorrow and I'm probably going to make myself look like a complete fool! So yay for me =D! Aaaaaanyway, this chapter was written whilst listening to Can You See Jane? and Letting Go, from the Thor soundtrack by Patrick Doyle, as well as Our Final Hope from the Dark of the Moon score by Steve Jablonsky. Thanks to_ Screamer's girl_, _Corevil_, _TheLoveDov_ and _TheSuperiorVision_ for reviewing! This chapter's a little on the short side, but I hope you enjoy anyway!**

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus trudged down to the basement where the two femmes would be waiting for him. He managed to hear Twilight yell,<p>

"Decepticons, fall back!" and then there was a shuffling noise and the knocking down of a door before Ravage bolted past him. The Autobot Commander let the feline go. Walking through the storage room's door, he saw the two femmes his team had saved once before. Locking optics with the sparkling, he smiled softly.

"Hey there." She weakly smiled back.

"Hello." He put on a professional look once more, but that melted away when he saw the sparkling's mother. Light blue armour with smooth dark blue highlights, bright pink optics, and silvery-grey face-plates. This femme was like Twilight's polar opposite. Ultra Magnus felt something drawing him toward her, and tried his best not to blush when her soft, scared voice met his audios.

"Hello, Ultra Magnus, Sir." He held out a hand to her, and she took it gratefully. The warmth that spread up his arm at her touch shocked him. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He fumbled over his words like an embarrassed youngling as he realised that he had not replied to the femme.

"O-Oh, y-yes, uhh... H-Hello." She giggled quietly, a much softer, less malicious laugh than that of his 'sister'.

"B-Blizzard, right?" She nodded. Smiling warmly at the youngling in Blizzard's arms again, he spoke softly.

"So you must be Starlight?" She nodded with a tiny smile of her own.

"Come on then, let's get you out of here."

* * *

><p>Blizzard's debriefing proved to be uninformative, to Rodimus Prime's and Ultra Magnus' surprise. Since the femmes' 'capture', she was not once abused, or separated from Starlight. None of it made any sense. The lie detector test said she was telling the truth.<p>

Nothing added up. After Rodimus had made sure the two of them were okay, he had left, leaving the Autobot second in command alone with Blizzard. Starlight was in recharge in her mother's arms, and Magnus took the chance to ask a few questions about Twilight.

"Was she... Alright?" Blizzard cocked her head to one side, knowing who he was asking about.

"Yes. I know the word 'Decepticon' paints a horrible image in everyone's mind, but some of them were a lot... _Kinder_ than the stories give them credit for. I understand that you have only ever seen them on the battlefield, and they are likely to switch personalities there. Cyclonus seems to have the worst reputation to boot, or, at least, you think so."

It was a statement, and not a question, which made the mech wonder what things Twilight had been sharing with Blizzard.

"He's sadistic, he's ruthless. If you saw him in battle you'd understand." Blizzard knew that the topic of Twilight was very thin ice with Magnus, so she tread carefully.

"Somewhere, an Autobot is probably using the same words to describe Twilight. Now, I _have_ seen _her_ in battle. She ended up saving our lives." The femme indicated to her daughter. The Autobot Commander sighed.

"He didn't... Harm her in any way, did he?" With a burst of confidence, the light blue Autobot femme placed a hand on top of Magnus', sending him the kindest of smiles.

"She is _happy_ with him, Ultra Magnus. I know that Decepticons aren't exactly _nice_, but I don't think any of them would go so far as to force a femme to bond with them. That would mean commitment, something they're not likely to offer unless they truly want to. They're just like any typical pair of spark-mates, happy and peaceful. They're in love, Magnus." The red and blue bot sighed. Blizzard sighed back. He still didn't seem convinced.

"He wouldn't _dream_ of hurting her, I know he wouldn't." Starlight shifted in her arms as the femme stood.

"Well, I'd better get the little one off to bed. I understand we're supposed to be staying in your quarters temporarily?" Magnus nodded, standing and leading the way back to his quarters.

* * *

><p>After settling Starlight down on the spare berth, Blizzard pulled a holo-projector out of her subspace.<p>

"Here," She whispered, tossing it to Magnus.

"There are a few you'll probably be uncomfortable seeing, but Starlight took some pictures during our little 'holiday' on Chaar. Do me a favour though? Don't be an aft and post them around base. You'll make my sparkling upset. And if you make her upset, Twilight won't be the happiest of femmes."

And with that said, the light blue femme curled up next to her daughter, pink optics offlining as she went into recharge. Magnus sat on his own berth, silently turning on the projector and flicking through the photos. There was one of Starlight sitting on Twilight's shoulders, then a close-up of the two of them, smiling brightly. Then there were a few of Blizzard with her daughter, then one of Rumble and Frenzy with the youngling.

It was the picture that came on next that shocked the Commander the most. Twilight was sitting on the edge of what must be her berth, beside Cyclonus. The Decepticon second in command had his arm wrapped securely around her waist, and they were smiling at the little sparkling taking the photos. _Cyclonus_ was _smiling_. And it wasn't some deranged smirk either.

The final photo on the projector was one of the Decepticon couple in recharge, and Magnus was surprised to find himself smiling slightly. Twilight was flat out with Cyclonus recharging by her side. The mech had one arm draped protectively over the femme's waist. Ultra Magnus fought the urge to chuckle as he saw the annotations Starlight had attached to the top of the picture.

_'Twilight and Cyclonus = **the** cutest couple in Cybertronian history besides momma and daddy._' Getting up quietly, the Autobot second in command placed the holo-image projector on the end of the femmes' berth before lying down on his own.

_'Good for you, Twilight, good for you.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, other than Blizzard, Starlight and Twilight.<strong>_  
><em>


	67. Heat

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, guys! I have a mock science exam on Friday, and I'm not feeling too good about it =S. On a better note, I finally finished and uploaded your One-Shot, _TheLoveDov_! Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_ and_ Corevil_ for reviewing, and a huge thanks to _Dreadful96_ for adding this story to their faves and alert list! Was watching _War Horse_ whilst writing this, so I don't have any songs to suggest (planning on buying the score from that though, John Williams never fails to disappoint =]). Anyway, ignore my ramblings, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>There were moments when Twilight <em>loved<em> the fact that she was practically the only femme in the Decepticon army. Moments that included showing the sexist mechs just how much damage she could do to them. But there were also moments when Twilight _hated_ the fact that she was practically the only femme in the Decepticon army.

Moments like today. Today was the start of a week that would mostly be spent avoiding mechs who had completely lost all regard for the fact that she was bonded, and that she could kick their afts.

Today was the start of Twilight's heat cycle.

* * *

><p>Sighing irritably, Twilight made her way down the corridors of the Decepticon base, trying to make it to her quarters before another mech tried to pounce on her. She'd already sent Blitzwing and Ramjet on a surprise trip to the med bay, and Hook would be livid with her if she had to send anyone else.<p>

As if reading her thoughts, Thrust and Dirge were waiting around the corner for her. When she saw them, she refrained the urge to roll her eyes and pretended she hadn't noticed them.

"Hey femme, wait up!" She only quickened her pace.

_'Oh, to the **Pit** with Hook, I need to beat the slag out of something, and I've got two willing volunteers **right** behind me.'_ Pivoting swiftly, she put on an innocent, oblivious smile.

"What is it, mechs?" The two Coneheads advanced until her back was against the wall.

"Y'know," Dirge started, "what you did to our buddy Ramjet wasn't very nice." Thrust nodded in agreement, tracing the zig-zag markings down one of her audio receptors.

"I think you need to... _Apologise_ for that." Deploying her claw-blades, she drove them into the mechs' shoulders in one liquid smooth movement, before stepping over them as they crumpled to the ground and walking back to her quarters.

"_So_ sorry."

* * *

><p>Cyclonus looked up from his report when Scourge took a seat next to him in the control room.<p>

"You need to do something." Cyclonus raised an optic ridge, feigning ignorance.

"About what?" Scourge rolled his optics.

"You _know_ what! Your fragging_ femme_!" The second in command's optics narrowed.

"Everyone's going crazy, Cyclonus. If you don't do something, someone else is going to end up-"

"Think _very_ carefully about your next words, Scourge, because they will decide where _you_ 'end _up_'." The tracker winced.

"Listen, mechs don't act like themselves around a femme who's... Well... You know what I mean. They've completely forgotten that she's bonded, and they're going after her just like they used to. There's a reason she usually stays holed up in your quarters this time of the month."

"I don't need you to educate me, Scourge. If it starts to get out of hand, then I'll... Talk to her. But she's stubborn about this." Cyclonus left the report on Soundwave's desk before leaving for his quarters. Scourge sighed, shaking his head.

_'It's **already** out of hand, Cyc, you just haven't noticed it yet.'_

* * *

><p>On his way to his shared quarters, Cyclonus tried to get Twilight's attention by tugging at the bond. She didn't answer, but he could feel anger and... Embarrassment coursing through her spark in waves. Dirge and Thrust ran past him then, both clutching their injured shoulders.<p>

"Crazy femme! She could've offlined us!" Oh yes, his lover was certainly _pissed_. Punching in his access code, he entered his quarters.

"Twilight? Love, are you there?" He heard the noise of running water, and looked into their private wash racks. Sure enough, she was there. She was sat in the corner of the racks, water pouring over her from the shower above her. Shutting the door behind him, he made his way over to her. She didn't look at him, but she sighed.

"I really despise this time of the month." He chuckled slightly.

"I know." He wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders as he sat next to her. She leaned into the embrace, sighing again.

"I hate being stared at like a cube of high grade."

"You don't normally leave the room. Where did you go?"

"I had to go to the Constructicons, the dispenser went bust again." She groaned, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"I wish the water could just wash the fragging scent away." Cyclonus laughed quietly before his tone turned serious.

"There is... _Something_ we could do." She cocked her head to the side, optic ridge raised.

"What are you-" Her optics widened. "_Oh._ Oh, _no_. No. No, no, no, no, _no_. No _way_, Cyclonus." He rolled his optics.

"Why not?"

"You know full fragging well why not! It's_ way_ too risky!"

"Risky _how_, exactly?" She narrowed her optics when his amusement seeped through their bond.

"You _know_ the risks. You know the _implications_ of the risks. That's why we've never_ taken_ the risks."

"You said you were ready."

"I said I'd _consider_ it!" She continued, flustered.

"What is there left to consider?" She stood and began to pace. He smiled smugly when she didn't say anything.

"Do _not_ give me that look. There is a_ lot_ left to consider. And you_ know_ there is." His smile grew.

"I'm afraid I don't, please elaborate." She glared at him, seething.

"_Don't_ try and make a fool out of me, Cyclonus." He rolled his optics, standing and wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm not." He sat back down and pulled her down with him, into his lap. She fought against his hold for a moment, but, as usual, he had an iron grip.

"Galvatron has no problems with it, everyone else either couldn't care less or would be delighted. _I'm_ ready. And I _know_ you are too. What is there left to consider?" He repeated himself. She stayed silent for a long while, thoughts drowning in the water that was still cascading over them. He grinned when she sighed, burying her head in the crook of his neck.

"I really hate it when you're right."

* * *

><p><strong>... ;)<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	68. Uncle

**I fraggin' hate having braces DX. Bit of a short chapter (most of them are these days, don't know what happened =P). Written whilst listening to With Arms Wide Open by Creed and Amen by Kid Rock. Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_, _Corevil_ and _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing, and thanks to _kanbikijanai_ for faving the story! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight groaned, checking her internal clock. It was three-thirty in the morning. Even <em>Galvatron<em> wouldn't have a good enough reason to wake her up this early, but apparently her tanks did. Quickly shaking out of her groggy state, she practically flew off of the berth, running to one of the cupboards next to the energon dispenser and pulling out a waste bucket, which she promptly purged into.

Cyclonus was woken up by the sound, rushing over to her side as he realised what had woke him up. She tried to get him to go away, embarrassment clouding his worry as she pushed him back. He rolled his optics.

"I've seen you in worse states than this, love." She groaned once more, tipping the contents of the waste bucket down the wash racks' drain and cleaning herself up.

"Sorry for waking you up." She mumbled as she lay back down by his side.

"Don't be ridiculous. Are you feeling alright?" Twilight sighed.

"A little better now, yes. Must've drank some dodgy energon last night or something." He didn't comment, but his optic ridge raised in confusion. He had drank energon of the same grade from the same dispenser, yet he was feeling fine. He shrugged inwardly.

"Go and see Hook later." She rolled her optics.

"I'm sure I'm fine, Cyclonus." He sighed, wrapping a protective arm around her and pulling her back into his chest.

"Your complete disregard for your health is as worrying as always. If this continues, I'll drag you to Hook myself." Twilight giggled, though the sound was quite weak.

"Goodnight."

* * *

><p>The next morning, it happened again. Twilight locked herself in the wash racks so Cyclonus didn't wake up. She didn't want to worry him, and she doubted whatever was wrong with her was worth wasting Hook's time.<p>

That afternoon, Twilight was filling in some reports on recent Autobot intel they'd acquired thanks to Laserbeak, and Scourge came over to sit with her. As they were chatting, her face-plates started to go a sickly pale colour, and she started to feel light-headed. The tracker noticed, getting ready to catch her if she fainted.

"Hey, Twilight, you don't look so good. You okay?" She shook her head, standing abruptly. She swayed for a moment, making Scourge think she was going to pass out, before quickly running out of the room.

She bolted for the med bay, ignoring the Constructicons' questioning glances when she burst through it's doors. Grabbing a waste bucket, she purged into it, coughing and spluttering. Setting it down on a repair berth, she swayed again, and Hook steadied her by grabbing her shoulders.

"You okay, Twilight? What's going on?"

"Hook, I need to talk to you. _Just_ you." He still looked confused, but he nodded.

"Everyone out, I can deal with this." He tipped what was once the contents of Twilight's tanks away as she lay down on one of the berths.

"When did the purging spells start?" He asked.

"Really early yesterday morning. Then it happened in the earliest hours of _this_ morning, and it hasn't happened again until just now." Hook nodded. She searched his face-plates, finding a knowing look.

"You know what's going on, don't you?" He shrugged.

"I might do, but I'll run a test to be sure." She nodded, lying still as he scanned her. From the berth she was on, she couldn't see the monitor that was showing her vitals. She did, however, see Hook's half smirk half genuine smile before he turned the screen around to her.

"Congratulations Twilight, you're carrying." It took her a full minute to process the words completely. When they did compute, she visibly flinched away from the screen in shock.

"I-I'm... I'm what?" Hook's optics narrowed behind his visor.

"You _are_ happy, aren't you?" She looked as if she was going to faint.

"Careful, don't pass out, you could stress out the sp-"

"I'm... There's a... In my... _What_?" Hook chuckled slightly.

"Congratulations."

"Holy Primus... But... Oh dear _lord_... Hook..." Walking over to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm yourself, Twilight. Chaar isn't exactly ideal in terms of medical equipment quality, but I'll do my best to make sure everything runs smoothly for you. Should I contact Cyclonus?" She shook her head with a small smile.

"No... I'll go and tell him. Thank you, Hook, thank you so much." He smiled slightly.

"No problem, it's my job." On her way back to her quarters, Twilight was lucky enough to bump into Soundwave.

"Brother! There's something I need to tell you!" He frowned slightly, worried. They entered his quarters, and he removed his mask and visor.

"What is it, Sister?" She smiled softly, resting a hand over her stomach-plating.

"You're going to be an 'uncle'."

* * *

><p><strong>So yeah, there you have it! You can all start guessing whether it's going to be a mech or a femme, if it's going to be twins, and if you have any ideas for designations, feel free to PM me or leave them in a review! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, other than Twilight.**


	69. Father

**Sorry I couldn't update last night, I was at this awards ceremony at school and I didn't get back until late. Anyway, this is, unfortunately, _another_ short chapter, I promise I'm working on making them longer =|. Thanks to _TheLoveDov, TheSuperiorVision, Corevil _and_ Screamer's girl_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to Letter to my Daughters by Uncle Kracker, and Amen by Kid Rock. Not entirely sure I'm happy with this, but I hope you enjoy anyway!**

* * *

><p>Soundwave had been ecstatic at the news, which Twilight was happy about. She lounged around in her shared quarters, waiting for Cyclonus to return. Suddenly, the femme remembered that she still had reports to fill out, and rushed back to the control room.<p>

When she arrived, Galvatron was the only other bot there. She bowed slightly before returning to her desk. Whilst she was filling in a report on a new Autobot recruit, Galvatron said something that made her freeze where she sat.

"Is it a mech or a femme?" She turned, trying her hardest not to fumble her words.

"Is what a mech or a femme, sire?"

"Don't play me for a fool, Twilight. I knew what was wrong with you the moment I saw you this morning. Is the sparkling you are carrying a mech or a femme?" She smiled slightly when Galvatron grinned at her.

"It's too early to be sure, sir."

"I'm sure it will be a valuable Decepticon, no matter what it is. Congratulations. How is Cyclonus taking the news?"

"I haven't had the chance to tell him yet, sire."

"Then I should not be keeping you from him. You are dismissed." She nodded, leaving a few reports on other mechs' desks before exiting the room with a bow.

* * *

><p>When Twilight arrived back at her quarters, she heard the sound of running water, and entered the wash racks. Cyclonus turned to look at her, worry consuming him when he felt nervousness flowing through their bond.<p>

"Is everything alright, love?" She didn't answer.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" He nodded, turning off the showers.

"...I went to see Hook, and he gave me some... Shocking news." Cyclonus started to worry even more. Had she contracted some sort of terrible disease? He walked up to her, wrapping strong arms around her.

"What is it?" She took a deep breath in, preparing herself.

"...I'm carrying, Cyclonus." The SIC's optics widened.

"...You... You're... I'm..." She nodded, smiling slightly.

"Yes, you're going to be a father." In one quick movement, Cyclonus had picked his mate up and kissed her lovingly.

"Oh Primus, you're _actually_..." She nodded again. He placed a hand over her stomach, smiling down at it. Twilight smiled, tears of joy in her optics. She'd never seen the mech so proud of anything before. He kissed her again.

"I love you, Twilight." She rolled her optics.

"And I love you." He sighed, sinking to the floor and pulling her down with him.

"I'm not as ready for this as I previously thought." He admitted quietly. She laughed.

"Nobody ever is." He looked to her.

"How do you feel?" She smiled.

"Happy, excited, but to tell you the truth, absolutely fragging terrified." He chuckled slightly, but she could feel uneasiness spreading through the bond. Before she could ask, he whispered,

"What if I screw up? What if I'm some sort of horrible father who doesn't know what the frag to do and doesn't know his sparkling at all?" She slapped his cheek-plate lightly.

"Don't you _ever_ think that. You'll be a brilliant father, and you're a fool to believe otherwise. All mechs must think that at some point, but they never turn out as bad as they believed they would be. There _are_, of course, exceptions." Twilight finished bitterly, and an image of her creators flashed unconsciously through the bond. He sighed, kissing her softly.

"We're not going to be like them, you _know_ we aren't. You're going to be an amazing mother." She smiled. After a while, Cyclonus shifted, speaking up.

"We're not prepared for this at all, are we?" Twilight grinned up at him, shaking her head.

"Of course not."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.<strong>


	70. Suspicious

**I had a science exam today, and I'm freaking out =S. I did so bad. Aaaaaanywho, ignore my ramblings, somehow I don't think _that's_ what you're here to read =). Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision, TheLoveDov _and_ Corevil_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to Somewhere I Belong and Easier to Run by Linkin Park. I'm glad to say that this isn't as short as the last few chapters, so, with that, I hope you enjoy! This chapter goes back to the Autobots' side of things, and there's another six month gap =P.**

* * *

><p>It had been six months since Blizzard and Starlight had been taken in by the Autobots, and the youngling was growing suspicious. Suspicious of Ultra Magnus. Suspicious of her mother. Suspicious of how... <em>Friendly<em> Ultra Magnus and her mother were being. Stomping through the corridors with a scowl not unlike Twilight's on her face-plates, Starlight made her way to her and her mother's quarters.

It wasn't like her to be so angry, she was hardly ever in a bad mood. But the sight of the Autobot second in command laughing at some pointless joke he had shared with her mother - who, to make matters worse, was_ laughing along_ - had ignited something in her spark that she couldn't quite work out. This unknown emotion had clouded her vision, and she ended up bumping into someone as she rounded a corner, falling flat on her aft.

"Ah, sorry sir!" She looked up to see the mech she had collided with holding a hand out to her, a cheerful smile on his face-plates.

"No worries, little lady. You didn't look very happy, somethin' up?" Cocking her head to one side, Starlight quickly realised that it was Jazz. The little femme and Jazz had grown quite close since they had first met, as they had a lot in common.

"Ya wanna go get some energon?" Starlight made to nod her head, then remembered that that slag-head Magnus was probably still there, flirting with her mother.

"No thank you, I'm not hungry. You have any good playlists I haven't listened to yet?" Jazz's face-plates broke out into a grin again.

"That I do, little lady, that I do. Come on, I'll show ya some of my faves."

* * *

><p>Blizzard entered her quarters, only to find that her sparkling wasn't there. Panic seized her, especially as the youngling wasn't returning the frantic tugs at their bond.<p>

_'She said she was going to go and have a nap! Oh, I hope she hasn't wandered off!'_

"Yo, Blizz." Relief coursed through the femme as she turned and saw Jazz holding Starlight - who was in recharge - in his arms.

"She fell into recharge in my quarters. We bumped into each-other in the hallway and went back to mine to listen to some tunes. Sorry if she had ya worried." Blizzard shook her head.

"No, it's fine. Thank you, Jazz."

"No worries, ma'am." Handing over the sparkling to her mother, he walked off, whistling an upbeat tune as he did so.

* * *

><p>Starlight sat up, processor fuzzy from recharge. She'd been having the nicest dream, and she lay back down in an attempt to fall back into it again. She'd been at a beach on some planet Jazz had showed her called Earth. Her mother and father were with her, along with Twilight and Cyclonus. Something was off about Twilight though, she looked weary, and her stomach-plating seemed... <em>Stretched<em> ever so slightly.

When her attempts to fall back into her dreamland failed, she groaned, hopping off of her berth irritably.

"Someone's not a morning person, I take it." _That_ got her awake. She knew that voice. All signs of sleepiness gone, she snapped her head up to glare at Ultra Magnus. What the frag was he doing here, in her quarters?

"What the _frag_ are you doing here?" She hissed. Her mother just happened to walk out of the wash racks in time to catch the sour greeting.

"Starlight! Language!"

"_What_ is he doing in _here_?" The youngling yelled, obviously upset.

"He came in with energon to say good morning, is there something _wrong_ with that?" Starlight didn't answer, turning to glare at a shocked - and, by the looks of things, slightly embarrassed - Ultra Magnus.

"Get out."

"Starlight-"

"Get _out_! Nobody _wants_ you here! Just get out! We were _happy_ before _you_ came along!"

"Starlight! Don't talk to-"

"I _know_ what's going on momma, you just don't think I do!"

"Sweetie, what are you-"

"You're trying to replace daddy with _him_! All you want to do is move on and forget, but _I'm_ not ready yet!" The seething youngling turned to Magnus again.

"Stay out of my_ life_!" And with that, she pushed past her mother and ran out the room, heading somewhere she knew she'd be happy.

* * *

><p>A tearful Starlight burst through the communications centre's doors, slamming the door behind her and collapsing on the floor in a fit of sobs. Blaster shot out of his seat, running over to the little femme himself and Jazz had grown quite close to.<p>

"Hey hey hey, little lady, what's wrong?" He picked up the youngling, walking back over to his desk and sitting down with her in his lap.

"Stupid- Ultra Magnus- Replacing- Daddy-" Was all the sound system could make out through the little light blue femme's sobs.

"There there, little lady. I'm not really good at the whole comfortin' thing. You want me to play some relaxin' tunes?" Starlight nodded slightly, managing a small smile as Blaster wiped away her tears and put her favourite song on.

The mech looked down at the sparkling in his arms, and tried to smile back at her. He felt sorry for the poor femme, no-one should have to go through what she had, especially at her age. And still Blaster got an uneasy feeling that things were about to get worse for the little femme before they got better.

* * *

><p><strong>I think staying with the Decepticons <em>may<em> have corrupted Starlight just a _little_... ^^;**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Blizzard, Starlight and Twilight.**


	71. Forgiveness

**...Just gonna drop this off here when I should be doing other things, don't mind me *whistles innocently*... Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_, _TheLoveDov_ and _Corevil _for reviewing! Written whilst listening to a crap-load of Beatles songs XD. Hope you enjoy then!**

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus sighed, bracing himself. He knocked on the communications centre's door, and Jazz greeted him.<p>

"Yo, Mag. What's up?"

"I... I came to see Starlight. Is she here?" Jazz's lips pulled down into a frown for a moment.

"She is, but I'm not sure she'll wanna see ya, no offense."

"None taken, it's to be expected. Could you, perhaps, let me talk to her? Alone?" Once again, a split-second frown.

"Like I said, she might not be too happy 'bout that. Yo, Blast! Tell our little lady she's got herself a visitor!" The special ops mech called. Ultra Magnus stepped into the room when Jazz moved from the doorway, and, as they had predicted, Starlight was less than pleased to see him. Blaster and Jazz left the room, and Starlight made no move to acknowledge the Autobot SIC's presence.

"Starlight, can I talk to you?" No answer. The little femme sat back in her seat at her tiny desk, going back to the picture she had been drawing before this rude mech had interrupted.

"I know you can hear me, Starlight." The light blue femme huffed, not turning in her seat.

"What do you want?" She didn't care that she was mouthing off to the second in command. She never thought she say it, but she actually wanted to be back with the Decepticons right now. Back with Twilight, and Cyclonus. Chaar felt like home more than this Autobot base at the moment, despite the close friends she had found in Blaster and Jazz.

"I want to apologise." She tried not to look fazed.

"For quite some time now, I've... Had feelings for your mother, but I felt it was wrong of me to act upon them. So I didn't. I feared that I would lose whatever friendship I had with you, but it seems that I already have." She looked up at him then, hopping off of her chair and folding her arms. Ultra Magnus was shocked at how much she was acting like Twilight.

"I... I really think I love her, Starlight. And I promise you, I'm not trying to replace your father. I would never try to do that. And I understand if you still hate me, but... I can't help the way I feel." Starlight sighed, frowning at the ground. She then snapped her head up and smiled slightly.

"If you want to confess to momma, take her to some really nice restaurant. Not too fancy, but don't make it cheap, the femme has quite an expensive taste. She hates being made a show of in public, too, so make sure the place is either quiet or private."

"Oh, and she likes those Earth flowers, uhh, roses! That's it, she likes roses. If you can somehow get some of those, I'm sure one of your mad scientists can enlarge the bouquet or something." Ultra Magnus stared for a moment, dumbfounded, before he smiled.

"Thank you, Starlight." She smiled back.

"You're welcome. I'm sorry about what I said before. Momma's happy when she's with you, and momma deserves to be happy." The SIC smiled again before giving the little femme a quick hug and leaving the room. Sighing, she got back to her drawing.

_'And to think,'_ she thought to herself, _'if he hadn't have just apologised, you would've told him to do a load of stuff she hates.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Oh Starlight, I think you've been hanging around Twilight a <em>little<em> too much ;)...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Starlight and Twilight.**_  
><em>


	72. Preggers

**There's still that six month gap, only because I was worried that the chapters would become repetitive, and I didn't really want to focus on Twilight's pregnancy too much. I might start up a little collection of one-shots for this story though, so if any of you have any ideas or there was something that you thought should have happened in earlier chapters, feel free to send in your suggestions! Blizzard's bio is now up on my DeviantArt account, by the way, if you wanna take a look. I'm not really happy with it, but it'll do for now. Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_ and _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing, and a huge thank you to _ninjafighter2313_ for reviewing, faving the story and putting it on their alert list! Written whilst listening to Lego House by Ed Sheeran and Wires by Athlete. Hope you enjoy!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Twilight growled quietly, rolling onto her side. This damn sparkling was becoming more trouble than it was worth. It kept her awake all night. She couldn't lie on her front, for obvious reasons, and every time she lay on her back it would kick her tanks to kingdom come in protest.<p>

She was getting roughly an hour or two worth of sleep each night, and even though she'd functioned on less, the sparkling was sapping her energy like one great big leech. Galvatron had halved her workload, which she was immensely grateful for, and it would only be a month until she wouldn't be working at all.

Checking her internal clock, she sighed. It was almost time to get up for work anyway, getting up a few minutes earlier wasn't going to make much of a difference. So that's what she did. Hunched forward ever so slightly to take the weight of the sparkling off her back, she busied herself with a few reports. Her optics flickered to the energon dispenser, but she shook her head and turned back to the datapad in front of her.

Her sparkling either had incredibly expensive or cheap taste, because it wasn't handling the grade of energon the Decepticons drank well. Hook suggested sending a unit to raid the Autobot's high grade stocks, but Twilight wouldn't have it. No member of the army was being put in harm's way for her, if they ended up getting offlined, she could never live with herself.

"What are you doing up?" She turned to see Cyclonus staring at her with a raised optic ridge.

"Sparkling woke me up, couldn't fall back into recharge. I'm only a few minutes early, it's no big deal." Cyclonus continued with his accusing glare.

"You're _an hour and a half_ early, Twilight. You need to rest." The femme cringed, smiling sheepishly.

"I'm fine, and, from the sounds of things, so's the little demon." The SIC rolled his optics.

"For once in your life would you stop being so stubborn?"

"Cyclonus, I'm fi-"

"Do_ not_ say you're fine. You're not _fine_ at all." She raised an optic ridge, confused at his sudden change in tone.

"What, you think I don't know that you don't recharge at all? You think I don't know how much pain you're in every time you have to twist your back? You think I don't see how badly you need energon, and yet you still refuse it?" She stood from her seat, walking over to him.

"I don't sleep because the sparkling keeps me up. I'm in pain because there is a living being growing inside me, and it's fragging _heavy_. I don't drink as much energon as I used to because the sparkling keeps refusing it for some unknown reason, which means that all I do for hours on end whenever I _try_ and drink is vomit it back up. Which isn't very fun, I'll have you know." They both sighed, looking anywhere but at each-other. Eventually, Twilight spoke up.

"...I managed to drink a whole cube yesterday without purging. Hook's running a few tests to see if the sparkling's finally accepting our usual grade. He thinks it's because high grade was in the systems when it was conceived."

"Why the frag didn't you tell me?" Twilight looked down, embarrassed.

"I didn't want you to get your hopes up over something that is most likely a fluke." Cyclonus rolled his optics, pulling his mate into an embrace.

"Don't be ridiculous. You know you can tell me anything." She smiled slightly.

"Go on, go to work. I'll be-"

"Fine, yes, I know." He gave her a quick kiss before leaving the room. Twilight sighed, sitting back down and looking back to the dispenser. Her tanks rumbled quietly.

_'**No**, you have to wait until Hook's finished with the test results. Dammit Hook, hurry up.'_ As if on cue, she got a comm from the medic.

_'I've finished with your results, stop by when you're ready.'_

_**'Thanks, Hook.'**_ Sighing, she hauled herself out of her seat again and made her way down the hall to the med bay.

* * *

><p>"How you holding up?" Hook asked as Twilight lay down on a repair berth.<p>

"Back still feels like it's going to snap, I'm thirsty as hell, and I can't get any recharge." Hook nodded, noting her words down on a datapad.

"The only thing I can think of is that it keeps kicking you at night because it's thirsty too. It's only getting energon from your reserves, which are slowly depleting because it keeps making you purge your drink back up again."

"But it seems to be tolerating it now, which means you should be able to get some energon inside you. That means that it should leave you to recharge, your back won't hurt as much because you'll be energised fully again, and the both of you won't be thirsty anymore."

"Thank Primus for that. How many months are left?"

"Only three, you'll be happy to know. Didn't you already know that?"

"The six that have passed have all blended into one for me, Hook, it's insane how much a sparkling can screw up your body clock." The medic chuckled.

"Well, you should be alright now. How's Cyclonus handling things?"

"Just like he always does when it comes to me. Overprotective, worried twenty-four seven. He almost had a fit when the sparkling kicked for the first time. It was pretty funny, actually." The two Decepticons laughed.

"Well, take it easy, Twilight."

"I'll be seeing you, Hook."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Preggers!" Scourge yelled, running to catch up to Twilight in the hallway. Oh, how she <em>despised<em> that human nickname.

"What is it, Scourge?"

"Come on, don't be so moody! You've got a little bundle of joy kicking the slag out of your insides! You should be happy!"

"Mmhm, it sounds _so_ much better when you put it that way." He chuckled, then one of his Sweeps came round the corner with a message for him from Galvatron.

"Well, gotta go. See you Preggers!" Twilight growled as the two mechs ran off. Entering her quarters, she all but collapsed on the berth. Cyclonus came in not long after, sitting beside his spark-mate.

"What did Hook say?" She sighed, looking down at the floor and sending sadness through the bond. He started to worry, and she muttered,

"He said we're fine." He leaned closer to her.

"What?"

"He said we're fine." She turned her head to him, giving him a smile. He sighed with relief, hitting her shoulder lightly.

"Don't do that. I hate it when you do that." She smiled with a giggle, wrapping her arms around his neck. A random thought popped into her head as they lay down together, and Twilight spoke up.

"Hey, Cyclonus?"

"Yes?"

"Remind me not to add 'Scourge' to our list of possible sparkling designations." The mech held back a chuckle.

"Let me guess, he called you 'Preggers' again?" The very mention of that vile human nickname made the femme shudder.

"Do you have _any_ idea how _disgusting_ a human looks when it's carrying?"

"Worse than you?" Twilight narrowed her optics, hitting her lover in the side.

"Shut up, you slagger." He laughed quietly, inwardly glad that the sparkling hadn't messed with her moods enough to _completely_ take away her sense of humour. Another thought struck Twilight out of nowhere, and she rested her head on Cyclonus' chest as she spoke with a small smile.

"You do realise that we are easily the strangest couple in the universe, right?"

"Oh, don't worry, I know."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story other than Twilight.<strong>


	73. Threat

**So sorry I haven't updated in the past couple of days, guys! Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_, _Corevil_ and _TheLoveDov_ for reviewing! This is another chapter that's based off an episode, if you're familiar with G1 you should work out which one it is =). On a completely unrelated note, I've been watching Star Wars all week (because apparently I needed reminding about how awesome it would be to be a Jedi) so yeah, didn't listen to anything whilst writing this, because I was too busy crying over The Phantom Menace (seriously though, _no-one_ kills off Liam Neeson). Uhh, yeah, please ignore me XD... Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus opened the door to his quarters, smiling softly when he saw Twilight's recharging form. He'd never get used to seeing her recharging in the middle of the day. Having a sparkling growing inside her was really taking it's toll on her. But, as usual, any and all of Cyclonus' concerned words were brushed off as if it was nothing, and Twilight continued to try and hide her discomfort. He sat next to her as she groaned quietly, waking up.<p>

"Afternoon." He chuckled slightly. She grumbled unintelligibly in response, her face covered by the crook of her arm. Rolling onto her back so she could see him, she cursed when the sparkling started to kick.

"Afternoon to you too." Cyclonus laughed, staring down at the slightly visible bump. The SIC had been surprised at how little Cybertronians showed whilst pregnant. If a random bot saw Twilight now, they wouldn't even suspect that she was carrying, even though she only had two months left until the due date.

At first, Cyclonus had started to panic, thinking that the sparkling was underdeveloped. Both Twilight and Hook had laughed at him, but were then surprised that he had never seen a carrying femme before.

"How are you?" He asked his sparkmate. She shrugged.

"Tired. Bored. Achy." He smiled, taking her hand.

"Not long now, love, it's almost over."

"Oh yay, and then I get to push the thing out of my stomach." She muttered sarcastically, waving her hands in the air in a half-hearted attempt at feigning excitement. Cyclonus chuckled, lying down beside her and pulling her back into his chest.

The sparkling had messed with her emotions majorly, turning her into a moody pessimist, the exact opposite from her usually upbeat self. They fell into a peaceful silence, and Cyclonus was just about to drift off when he got a comm. from Galvatron, ordering him to meet his leader at the base entrance to go on a scouting mission for isidrite. He sat up, looking down at his sparkmate. She'd fallen back into recharge.

_'No point in waking her.'_ Cyclonus placed a soft kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.

* * *

><p>Twilight was wandering the Decepticon base's compound on Chaar, when she overheard Swindle and Motormaster having words with Cyclonus.<p>

"Listen, Cyclonus, either _you_ do something about his craziness,"

"Or _we'll_ do something about the both of you!" As if knowing that their words would endanger their safety, the Stunticon and Combaticon ran away as soon as they had said all they wanted to say. Peeking around the corner, Twilight could see her sparkmate pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"Evening, Cyclonus." A holographic Quintesson appeared a few feet away from the SIC. Twilight narrowed her optics. Whatever the thing was up to, it wasn't good.

"Galvatron's actions seem to grow more amusing by the day."

"Go away, Quintesson, I have more important things to do than talk to _you_." Cyclonus growled.

"Ah, yes, your sparkmate. How is she? Don't answer that, I don't really care. Back to the matter at hand, there are worlds that specialise in treating psychological disorders, you know. Torkulon, for example."

"Don't insult my intelligence, you five-faced pile of slag! I trust you no further than I can throw Trypticon! But... On the other hand, I suppose _something_ must be done..."

"Yes, it must, musn't it?" Twilight's optic ridge raised from where she stood behind one of the storage warehouses.

"But Galvatron would never go _willingly_ to such a place!" The black and red femme fought the urge to face-palm. She kept her end of the bond as blocked as she could, making sure her mate thought she was still back in their quarters recharging.

"I'm afraid that's _your_ problem, Cyclonus. Do tell your femme I said hello." And with that, the Quintesson disappeared. Cyclonus glared daggers at the spot on the ground where the holographic flesh creature once hovered. He jumped slightly when he heard a voice behind him.

"So, you're just going to take advice from a _Quintesson_ without telling me?" Twilight walked up to him.

"How long have you been standing there?" She shrugged.

"Long enough." He sighed.

"Of course I was going to consult you."

"No, you weren't. I could feel your intentions through the bond. You're such a fragging _liar_." He glared at her.

"Oh, _I'm_ the liar? Who's been cutting off their end of the bond and pretending to be in recharge?" She giggled slightly.

"What's the point in playing hide and seek if you know you're going to get found?" He rolled his optics, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"You should be resting." She smiled.

"_No_, from the looks of things, I should be stopping you from making a horrible decision." Silence followed, so the femme continued.

"Don't do this, Cyclonus. If it ends up being a Quintesson trap - which it undoubtedly will be - then you'll get the blame."

"I have to try, Twilight."

"No, you don't."

"Well then, _you_ choose! It's either go to the planet, or face rebellion!"

"What are you yelling for?" Cyclonus tightened his grasp around her waist, pulling her close.

"I'm sorry, love, I just-"

"I understand. You're stressed, I get it. I'm trying to help, Cyclonus, please. Listen to me."

"There's no other option left."

"Then send a team to go and scout the planet and see if it's a legitimate medical facility." The SIC shook his head.

"Galvatron will become suspicious." Twilight sighed.

"It's the only way, Twilight. We have to try."

"Then I'm coming with you." Immediately, Cyclonus' tone changed.

"You most certainly are _not_!"

"Yes, I am. Don't try stopping me, because I'm really not in the mood to be manhandled."

"It's not just your safety you're throwing into the Pit, Twilight. Think about the sparkling!"

"The sparkling that I don't want to raise _alone_!" Cyclonus almost flinched away from the pain in her optics.

"I know you can take care of yourself, but every mission you go on without me... My mind always over-thinks scenarios, and I end up filling my head with images of you offline. I don't want to get a call telling me that you're not coming back to me. To _us_," She gestured to her stomach,

"I don't want our sparkling to grow up without a father. And I don't want to live with the fact that I could've done something to save you, should you end up offline." She hadn't spoken to him like this since they had first got together. He kissed her softly.

"Don't ever think that I will not return to you. You know I will, I always will. I love you, Twilight, and I love our sparkling. Nothing could ever keep me from either of you. Remember that." He locked optics with her. She nodded, and he walked away.

* * *

><p>Twilight stalked into the med bay, standing next to Soundwave as her lover approached Galvatron, who lay on one of the repair berths.<p>

"The Autobots have recently been spotted exploring a world not far east from here by the name of Torkulon, what orders should I relay, Mighty Galvatron?"

"Round up Scourge and the Sweeps. We will meet at the entrance in five minutes." Cyclonus nodded, then halted in his tracks when Galvatron called out,

"Twilight!"

"Yes, sire?"

"Do you believe you can cope with this mission, or do you need to stay on medical leave?" Both Soundwave and Cyclonus glared at her, _daring_ her to accept his offer.

"I should be fine, my Lord. Should I need to take an early retreat from the battlefield, I will inform you." The two mechs' glares intensified as Galvatron nodded and walked out. Twilight met Cyclonus' glare evenly and then left the room, her sparkmate right behind her.

"What the _frag_ do you think you're doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"I _told_ you that you weren't coming with us! _What_ are you trying to prove?"

"I'm not trying to prove _anything_! I'm sick of being locked up in our quarters or the med bay. I need to breathe, Cyclonus! You're _suffocating_ me!" The mech stopped, and Twilight instantly knew that that was the wrong thing to say.

"Fine," he muttered, "you want to endanger your own life, as well as the life of our sparkling, then fine." She glared at the back of his head.

"I _warned_ you not to listen to that Quintesson. If this 'mission' turns to slag, don't expect any sympathy from me." She said, tone emotionless. It shattered her spark when she felt his pain through their bond, but she kept her stoic expression and walked straight past him towards the base entrance.

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later, and the dull coloured planet of Torkulon was visible to the seven Decepticons flying towards it. Twilight hung near the back of the formation, visor and mask in place. They landed not long after, and Twilight shook her head slightly to clear it. Cyclonus awkwardly approached her. She had numbed her end of the bond, so he couldn't tell whether she was still mad.<p>

"...You're not ill, are you?" He asked tentatively. She shook her head sharply.

"I'm fine." She walked off to go and inspect some purple cave like structures, that were made of some sort of thick slime. She stumbled back slightly when a strange creature ran up to the 'bars' of the structure and started screaming gibberish at her.

It's eyes were bloodshot, and it was looking around and screaming frantically, clearly terrified to the point of insanity. She hurriedly backed away from it, turning to see Galvatron yelling at some sort of lizard that was also locked away. All of a sudden, an ape-like life form landed in front of her and Cyclonus in a chair made of the same purple substance.

"Are you the new admission?" The organic asked, pointing to Cyclonus. He then caught sight of Galvatron, and lowered his hand.

"Ah, I see, forgive me." The Torkuli frowned when Galvatron started to shake the bars of the strange purple cage.

"That's enough. Anti-mutual behaviour is not allowed." The Decepticon leader turned, growling ferally.

"Oh? Do you think you can stop me? I'd like to see you-" The Decepticons watched as more of the Torkuli appeared, one of them pulling out a grey cube that sent a bolt of energy towards Galvatron. It enveloped him like some sort of forcefield, seemingly draining his energy.

The first Torkuli that had appeared started listing all of Galvatron's mental problems to Twilight, who wasn't really listening and was still tense, ready for an ambush.

"You were wise to bring him here."

_'**Were** we? Were we really?'_ Galvatron started yelling threats at Cyclonus, who tried not to seem fazed. Instinctively, Twilight placed one foot in front of her sparkmate, ready to fight if necessary. There was no need, however, as the Decepticon warlord collapsed, and a purple cage grew around him. He was then moved off to a different area of the planet, Scourge and the Sweeps following to keep an eye on him whilst Cyclonus filled out forms for the Torkuli's records.

Twilight stood not too far away from her sparkmate, staring at all of the Torkuli's different 'patients' in the cages spread out around her. They were all definitely insane, but not the same type of insane as Galvatron.

Whilst the Decepticon leader had moments of sanity from time to time, all of these creatures looked broken, their minds completely up in the clouds. The femme started to grow suspicious, the creatures she was looking at didn't seem like they were being helped in any way. If anything, they would cringe away in fear whenever a Torkuli walked past.

She shook her head, clearing her processor. Whatever was happening to these animals didn't matter, her job was to ensure the safety and healing of her leader. She walked off, heading towards the barely visible outline of Scourge and his Sweeps, Cyclonus following her not long after.

* * *

><p>The Sweeps waited on the surface of the planet whilst Cyclonus, Scourge and Twilight followed the head Torkuli into an underground tunnel system. They were being taken to the room where Galvatron was being treated. When the ape-like organic had first told the Decepticon warriors what the first form of treatment for Galvatron would be, Twilight had nearly laughed in his face.<p>

The Torkuli were going to try and get him to 'talk about his problems'. Scourge shared her opinion on this method of treatment, but Cyclonus seemed desperate and willing to try anything. They soon entered the room, where a therapist was trying to talk to Galvatron.

"Okay, just say whatever comes to mind."

"Kill! Smash! Destroy!" The Torkuli looked pretty uneasy.

"Uhh... Yes, go on."

"Rend! Mangle! Distort!" Scourge and Twilight shared a look. The femme turned to her mate.

"Cyclonus, this is ridiculous-"

"Forget that," Scourge cut in, "it's just plain _stupid_! Let's get him out of here!" Cyclonus sighed.

"Just give it a chance!" They all silenced when Galvatron spoke up again.

"I'll destroy _everything_ here! And then, I'll destroy the Autobots!" The therapist noted a few words down on his pad of paper.

"Oh? Tell me about these 'Autobots'."

"I hate the Autobots! I hate _Cyclonus_!" Forgetting the argument that they'd had, Twilight put a comforting hand on Cyclonus' shoulder. She knew how highly he rated their leader, and, despite having numbed her end of the bond, she could feel how crushed he was. He looked down at her, surprised that she was even bothering to comfort him. She wasn't looking his way, however, and he soon learned why.

"I'm not very fond of _you,_ either!" Galvatron roared, breaking out of his purple restraints and reaching for the therapist. The Torkuli that had taken Twilight, Scourge and Cyclonus down to the room they were in pulled out his inhibitor ray, knocking out the Decepticon leader before he could wreak any havoc.

"On to the next phase, then."

* * *

><p>"What's the point of <em>this<em>?" Twilight muttered to herself as she watched Galvatron assemble some parts of - well, she didn't actually know what it was - like a child at playschool. She took a step back as her leader managed to create a _gun_ out of the spare parts, shooting at the walls and the other patients in the room. Once again, the inhibitor ray put him into stasis, and the head Torkuli turned to Twilight and Cyclonus.

"I'm afraid your friend is rapidly exhausting his therapeutic options."

* * *

><p>Twilight found herself staring at the most bizarre method of treatment in the universe as she entered some sort of theatre with Cyclonus and the others.<p>

"Here, the patients will act out their problems." The lead Torkuli explained. Twilight face-palmed.

_'This is going to be one **long** rehearsal.'_ A strange, three-eyed creature on the other side of the theatre began to bounce up and down, screaming. Twilight, being as moody and hormonal as she was, didn't take kindly to the noise. Neither did the sparkling, it seemed, because it started to kick frantically.

"Oh, if it wants to scream, I'll _gladly_ give it something to scream about." The femme muttered, getting ready to deploy her claw blades. Cyclonus placed a hand on her shoulder, halting her.

"Calm down, love." She glared at him for a moment before sighing and stepping back. Galvatron wasn't exactly happy about the hideous noise the creature was making either, and he started to yell at it, breaking out of his restraints yet again and firing at it.

"He's developed a tolerance to the inhibitor. We'll have to prepare the Alya solution." For the first time since she'd landed on the annoying planet, Twilight spoke to the head Torkuli.

"Alya solution? What's that?"

"You'll see soon enough." The ape stated.

"I want to know what you're doing to him." Cyclonus ordered, tone borderline threatening.

"Why, we're curing him, obviously."

"_Curing_ him? Why have you waited so long to-"

"Because this solution might also cure him of, well, being Galvatron." The three Decepticon commanders looked to each-other, optics wide.

* * *

><p>Without warning, six huge, green insects came out of the ground, surrounding Galvatron.<p>

"What are _they_?" Cyclonus asked, just as confused and suspicious as the other Decepticons.

"These are the Alya. I'm afraid therapy on Galvatron's processor has failed. Our only option now is to complete it's disintegration." Cyclonus quickly figured out how Galvatron would end up after this 'treatment'.

"Release him, _now_!" He ordered. Twilight made a break for the Alya, deploying her claw blades. Before she could get anywhere near them, however, she found herself wrapped up in that same purple slime, unable to move. Looking back, she saw that the same thing had happened to Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps.

"I cannot allow you to interfere. It is in the patient's best interest that we end his suffering."

"When I get out of these restraints, I swear to Primus I'll-" Cyclonus was cut off by the head Torkuli.

"I hope you realise that what we're doing to Galvatron can also be done to _you_." Twilight tensed, rage flaring in her optics that blazed dangerously. No-one threatened her mech. _No-one_. Using her claw blades, she cut through the purple substance, before slicing the Torkuli beside her clean in half. The other Torkuli screamed, trying to escape. He managed to link Galvatron's mind up with the planet's before Twilight decapitated him.

"Terminate the link, _now_." Twilight hissed, rounding on the head Torkuli. He backed away, but before she could strike, the planet shook and a blue light flashed through the cracks in the ground.

"The planet's falling apart! It's been infected with Galvatron's madness!" Twilight took this as her chance, slicing through the bonds restraining her spark-mate and the others before flipping through the air, landing beside Galvatron's cage. She killed the Alya effortlessly before cutting through the purple slime that locked Galvatron away.

Cyclonus and the Sweeps approached, Scourge hanging back to keep an optic on the head Torkuli. Galvatron stood to his full height, glaring when his crazed crimson optics landed on Cyclonus.

"Mighty Galvatron, forgive me, I did not know that-" He was cut off by a blow to the face-plates from his leader. Twilight's optics narrowed.

"You should have known. Now follow me, there's something that needs to be done." The soldiers nodded, following their leader.

* * *

><p>Galvatron led them to a cliff edge, flying into the depths below without a word of warning. Twilight froze, stiffening. She backed up, trying to get away from the cliff. She closed her optics and shook her head violently, trying to shake off the images that were surfacing. Cyclonus landed beside her.<p>

"What's _wrong_ with you? Aren't you coming?" He snapped, panicked that Galvatron was going to get himself offlined.

"I think I'll stay out of this one, thank you." She said, not meeting his optics that were narrowed in an angry stare. He still didn't realise why she was hanging back as he followed Galvatron down into the deepest part of the planet. Scourge and the Sweeps landed beside her, the winged mech putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You feeling okay, Preggers?" Twilight shook her head.

"Tell Galvatron and Cyclonus that I've headed back to Chaar." She flew off, intent on going to see Hook.

* * *

><p>Twilight didn't look up when Cyclonus burst through the doors of the med bay, rushing to stand by her side.<p>

"Is the sparkling okay?" She didn't answer. Not that she had time, Hook spoke up first.

"It's a little shaken up, but as long as Twilight gets some rest and _stays down_, it'll be fine." Said femme stood, nodding to the medic.

"Thanks, Hook." He nodded back.

"No problem." She left the room, Cyclonus following silently behind her. When she reached their quarters, she punched in the access code, walking in and lying on their berth. Cyclonus closed the door after him, sitting on the foot of the bed. He had finally understood why she had refused to follow him over the edge of that cliff, but his pride wouldn't let him apologise just yet.

"You want to say I told you so? Go on." For a while it seemed like she wasn't going to answer, until she sighed, and sat up beside him.

"Since when have I _ever_ been one to brag about how I was right and you were wrong?" Cyclonus sighed back.

"...I should have listened to you from the start. I don't know what I was thinking, taking advice from a Quintesson. I just... The thought of rebellion, it... Frightened me, as much as I hate to admit it. I didn't want the sparkling to grow up during a rebellion, on top of the war we're already fighting."

"I understand, Cyclonus. You don't have to explain your actions to me. Besides, I believe I have a fair share of apologies to give to you, too." He looked up at her.

"I went a little stir-crazy before, and I overreacted. You're not suffocating me, Cyclonus, I just needed to get off of Chaar for a while to remind myself that there were, in fact, other planets out there." He rolled his optics at her exaggeration, and she smiled, glad she was getting somewhere.

"But I risked the life of our sparkling in doing so, and you have no idea how much I hate myself for that. I shouldn't have gone with you, and I'm sorry for making a big deal out of things." Cyclonus shook his head, taking her hand in his.

"Don't be ridiculous. I shouldn't have confined you to the base for as long as I did. I don't _own_ you, Twilight. I just get a little..."

"Overprotective?" She offered. He rolled his optics, nodding.

"Yes, that. And I apologise for that, as well as for not realising your reasons for not going over that cliff edge." She shook her head.

"You were worried for Galvatron, it's fine."

"No, it's not. You should come first. I-"

"Cyclonus, you were programmed to be Galvatron's most loyal soldier. Today, you proved that you are. I don't care that you didn't remember a tiny little detail from my past. I still love you just as much as I did before. Now, let's just forget about all this, the sparkling needs to rest, badly."

Cyclonus chuckled, lying down with her. Saying that the sparkling needed something was sometimes just a way of saying that she needed something, but was too proud to admit it. The second in command smirked, draping an arm protectively over his lover and his sparkling.

"Goodnight, you two."

* * *

><p><strong>Pretty sure that was one of the longest chapters yet, pretty proud of myself for that XD. Anywho, hope you enjoyed!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Twilight.**


	74. Revelations

**Not sure whether I like this chapter or not =P. It was written whilst listening to Revelation by American Pearl (purely because the song and chapter titles matched =|). Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Cyclonus had agreed to let Twilight 'off her leash' as she put it, allowing her to leave base - with either himself or Soundwave, of course - for short periods of time. The sparkling was due in a week, and both of it's parents were starting to get nervous. As they lay together on their berth, Twilight voiced a question that had been lingering in her processor for quite some time.<p>

"What if it... Turns out like me?" She asked, voice barely audible due to a cosmic storm that had rolled in and was passing through Chaar. Cyclonus craned his neck so he could see her face-plates.

"What would be wrong with that?" She sighed, sitting up. He sat himself up, too, confusion and worry clear in his optics as well as his spark.

"What if it ends up being... Flightless?" Cyclonus winced. That thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He wrapped his arms around her slightly stretched waist.

"Considering I'm a flier, the chances of that are-"

"There's still a possibility. And it'll be my fault. Cyclonus... I don't think I'll be able to live with myself if it-" He brought a hand up to her face-plate, cupping it gently and turning her head around so he could give her a reassuring kiss.

"Hey, hey, calm down. There's no need to get panicky about it, it's most probably nothing to worry about. The sparkling will be fine, you'll see." Twilight smiled. She knew how much he wanted a mech. How much he wanted a flier, too. In her mind, she could picture Cyclonus teaching their son how to fly. With a weary smile, she sent the image through their bond.

"With a pair of wings that'll put you to shame." She said with a challenging smirk.

"Well," he started with an arrogant smirk of his own, "I doubt that." They both laughed quietly, and shared one last kiss before falling into a peaceful, well-needed recharge.

* * *

><p>Galvatron contacted them hours later, when the storm had subsided, and they both heaved themselves off of the berth, making their way to the throne room. Cyclonus' frame noticeably went rigid as Galvatron started to speak.<p>

"We will need every Decepticon for this mission, it will be our final push on the Autobot front in Praxus. If we fail, then we will regroup back on Chaar, and devise a plan of action to take the city-state of Kaon, the previous Decepticon capital. And I am afraid, Twilight, that when I say every Decepticon, that does include you." The room went silent, everyone giving each-other uneasy looks. Hook stepped forward.

"With all due respect, Lord Galvatron, the sparkling is a mere week away from it's due date. If Twilight were to-"

"I know many of you will not approve of my order, but it is final. Twilight," he addressed the heavily pregnant femme, "You _will_ be accompanying us." Sighing wearily, she nodded in resignation.

"Yes, sire."

* * *

><p>Rumble and Frenzy caught up with Twilight and Cyclonus as they were walking back to their quarters.<p>

"Twi, you can't go out there!"

"I have to, Frenzy."

"But, but what if something bad happens to the sparkling?" Said sparkling's creators both stiffened, and Frenzy hit Rumble round the head.

"The sparkling will be fine, Rumble." Cyclonus stated, though he didn't believe his own words. Twilight punched in their access code, entering their quarters. Cyclonus waited for a moment, turning to the twins.

"Bunny-ears, you _can't_ let her do this!" Cyclonus rolled his optics. Even when they were being serious about something, they just _had_ to use that hideous Earth nickname.

"Listen, you two, I need you to do something." They both nodded.

"Should things get out of hand for Twilight in _any_ way, you are to help her find a place to hide. If there's nowhere to hide, then one of you can contact me, and I'll try and persuade Galvatron to retreat. You get her and the sparkling to safety no matter what, understand?" The two trouble-makers nodded again, a serious look plastered - for what seemed to be the first time ever - across their face-plates.

* * *

><p>As the Decepticon army touched down on the outskirts of Praxus, Hook rushed over to Twilight.<p>

"If anything, and I mean _anything_, feels out of place, contact me right away." She rolled her optics, nodding.

"I will."

"I'm_ serious_, Twilight! Don't go performing the 'I'm a warrior, I don't need your help' routine today!" Once again, her optics met the heavens.

"Hook, you have my word." Cyclonus glared down at her for using a slightly sarcastic tone.

"What?" She asked with an innocent smile. It was Cyclonus' turn to roll his optics as he shook his head, bending down to place a quick kiss on her lips when no other Decepticons were looking their way.

"Twilight!" Galvatron called, beckoning the femme to his side.

"What is it, sire?" She asked, bowing respectfully when she got closer to him.

"I've just received word from Soundwave - or, rather, from Laserbeak - that Ultra Magnus is currently recharging in his quarters in the local Autobot headquarters. The Autobots are still blissfully unaware that we are here, and I want it to stay that way. Your mission is to get past security and infiltrate Magnus' quarters. Once you are there, offline him where he lies."

With her trademark smirk, Twilight nodded, running off to complete her mission. Cyclonus watched her go, noticing that she was tiring out a lot quicker than usual. He strengthened her by supporting her through the bond, and he continued to watch as her silhouette disappeared in amongst the Praxian skyline.

* * *

><p>Making it to Ultra Magnus' quarters was, surprisingly, a lot easier than Twilight had expected. It was making sure that she didn't wake him that proved to be the hard part. Ever since she'd been about a month into carrying, Twilight had lost most of the gracefulness that was one of her key qualities as a warrior. She was... Clumsy, as much as she hated to admit it. But admit it she did, especially when she knocked a stack of datapads right off of Ultra Magnus' desk.<p>

"Slag!" She cursed in a hushed voice, waiting for him to wake up. He didn't, however, proving that he was still just as heavy a recharger as he was when they were younglings. Twilight shook her head sharply, getting rid of the fond thoughts. Her curiosity got the better of her when she saw that one of the datapads she had knocked over had turned on. Picking it up, she gasped as she saw the screen.

* * *

><p><em>"Okay, Magnus, I'm ready!" Twilight yelled, stepping out of the paint booth. The red and blue bot turned around... And promptly burst out laughing when he saw the paint job his closest friend had decided to change to. Moments later, the femme herself had burst into hysterical laughter. Trying to calm herself down enough to speak, she shoved Ultra Magnus playfully.<em>

_"Hey, don't laugh, I'm **serious** about this one!" Magnus continued to chuckle._

_"No, you're not... Are you?" Giggling quietly, Twilight shook her head._

_"Of **course** not, silly! Have you **seen** me? I look like that crazy old femme that used to live across the street!" That sent the two into another fit of laughter. Getting out his camera, Ultra Magnus snapped a picture of the two of them._

* * *

><p>Twilight found herself smiling softly down at the photo. That was when Ultra Magnus had chosen the paint job he wore today, and she had decided to be an idiot and get the booth to paint her pink, with thin green lines spiraling up her arms and down her legs and audio receptors. Looking down at Ultra Magnus' recharging form, she realised something that shook her to the core.<p>

"I can't offline him," She muttered, "After years of hating and threatening him, I can't go through with it. What the frag has happened to me?"

_'You fell in love, idiot, and it's made you go soft.'_ She shook her head with an irritated growl, moving to pick up the other datapads she had knocked onto the floor. The femme was so caught up in what she was doing that she didn't notice Ultra Magnus sit up sleepily.

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus sat himself up, blinking up at Twilight, who was smiling down at the pictures on the datapad he kept so very well hidden from the world. Wait a minute, <em>Twilight<em>? And then it hit him. Twilight was _here,_ in his quarters. At first, he was ecstatic, but it only took him a split second to realise that she was most probably here under Galvatron's orders, to offline him.

"Twilight!" He made a grab for her wrist, and she gasped, staggering back. Panic shot through him when she let out a pained yell, clutching her stomach as if it was about to tear open. Magnus just had time to grab the waste bucket from under his desk as she purged, coughing and spluttering. It was then that he took notice of the fact that her stomach armour was slightly stretched, and that was all it took for him to understand.

"Holy frag, you're _carrying_?" She managed to find the strength to roll her eyes, until a piercing pain wracked her body again, and she curled in on herself, holding back a scream.

"Magnus, you have to take me down to the battlefield, the sparkling's coming!"

* * *

><p><strong>Oh right, I never really explained my whole thing with 'Transformers don't really show when they're pregnant'. I only say this because I find it a bit creepy if a robot has a... well... human-like pregnant look to it. That's my only excuse, sorry if it annoys any of you ;).<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story other than Twilight.**


	75. Welcome

**Hey guys, won't be able to update tomorrow, going to my dad's for the day to celebrate my uncle's 30th, and, as usual, no internet apart from 3G, so thought I'd give you a chapter tonight. Thanks to _ninjafighter2313_, _Corevil_, _TheLoveDov_ and _TheSuperiorVision_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to With Arms Wide Open by Creed. Hope you enjoy then!**

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus' optics widened. He hurriedly picked up the Decepticon, rushing out of his quarters. It didn't take Twilight long to realise that he was heading towards the Autobot med bay.<p>

"Magnus, I need to go to _Hook_!" He shook his head.

"You think it's safe for a sparkling to be birthed in the middle of a battlefield? Working for Galvatron really _has_ messed up your processor!" She was in too much pain to snap back at the snide remark.

"Magnus, I need Hook, not _your_ medic!"

"What's the difference?" She rolled her optics.

"Just stop arguing and take me to-" She was cut off by another contraction, which she realised with growing panic were a lot closer together than she thought they should have been. The Autobot SIC was starting to panic now too.

"Alright, alright, I'm taking you to Hook!"

* * *

><p>After Magnus had found an evacuated building that was stable, Twilight contacted Hook.<p>

_**'Primus, Hook, you have to get your aft over here **now**!'**_

_'Twilight, what's happening?'_

_**'The fragging sparkling's decided that it wants to come out!'**_ She heard a violent string of Cybertronian curse words flow like a river down the comm. link.

_'Okay, I've locked onto your co-ordinates! Myself and Bonecrusher are on our way! Hang in there, Twilight!' _Said femme grit her dentals as another contraction relentlessly tore through her frame.

_**~Cyclonus, drop whoever you're beating the slag out of and get your aft over here, please!~**_

_~What is it, love? Is it the sparkling? Did something bad happen?~_

_**~Not **completely** bad, lets just say that it wants to meet you sooner than expected!~**_ She could practically _see_ his optics widen.

_~But it's a week early!~_ Twilight fought the urge to face-palm.

_**~Oh, I'm sorry, let me just ask it if it can wait for another week! Better yet, I'll try to hold it in for you!~**_ Another scream of pain left her vocaliser, and Ultra Magnus gripped her hand tightly.

"Magnus..." She muttered, surprised that he was comforting her after all she'd done to him. She sighed. What was the point in all the horrible things she'd said and done? He was once one of her closest friends, and she knew that had he been there to help her and Thundercracker that day, he would have.

"Magnus... I... I'm-" He shushed her gently.

"Stop talking, focus your energy on the sparkling."

"No... I have to... Apologise-"

"Twilight, please, you're wasting energy!" She shoved his shoulder lightly.

"Then let me get on with what I'm about to say!" He shut up then, looking her in the optics.

"...I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. You are my brother, and I... Shouldn't have treated you the way I have done for countless years." Ultra Magnus shook his head, planting a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Don't be ridiculous, Sister. I have quite a long list of things that I have to apologise for, too." She shook her head.

"Not to me, you don't." Magnus sighed.

"Come on, Twilight. Focus your energy on getting that sparkling out safely." She nodded, offlining her optics and gritting her dentals. Her stomach plating slowly started to retract, making an opening for the sparkling to come out through. She felt Cyclonus' panic grow as he neared her location. Not a moment later had he burst into the room, optics narrowing when they landed on Ultra Magnus.

"What are_ you_ doing here?" His blaster trained on the Autobot's spark, he slowly stepped closer.

"Listen," Magnus started, "as much as I'd _love_ to fight you, we don't have time for this right now." Cyclonus glared at the mech in warning before turning to Twilight. His tone immediately changed.

"How are you?" She returned his smile wearily.

"I'm fine." She narrowed her optics when she caught sight of a bleeding wound on his shoulder.

"What happened to you?" She asked, worried. He laughed quietly.

"Don't you worry about me, love. I'll be alright." She sighed. Magnus spoke up again.

"I'm... sorry for the things I've said about you, Cyclonus. I didn't believe that Twilight actually cared for you, and you for her. I can see how happy you are, and I have no intention of souring that happiness now." Cyclonus sat there in silence for a moment, until Twilight nudged him.

**_~Say something.~_** The purple mech stood, sighing.

"...The Constructicons are on their way, so I suggest you get moving. They won't be as... Tolerant of you as I have been." Twilight rolled her optics, and looked to Ultra Magnus with a small, tired smile. He nodded to them both before leaving. Cyclonus sighed again, kneeling back down beside his spark-mate. He looked down at her stomach, where the plating had pulled back, and saw that the sparkling was close to crowning.

Luckily, the two Constructicons burst through the door not long after, and Cyclonus stood so they could crowd around his femme. She turned her head to look up at him, sending him a shaky smile. He returned it, and gripped her spark through the bond, sending her reassurance and strength.

_~You can do this, love.~_ She sent another crooked smile his way, before pain washed over her body.

"It's too late to offline her pain sensors! If we do it now, then we could risk damaging the sparkling's systems!"

"_Calm down_, Bonecrusher! I'm afraid you'll just have to grin and bear it, Twilight."

**_~You sure about that?~_**

* * *

><p>"Okay, you're doing really well, Twilight. It's almost out, come on, one final push'll do it!" Hook was nodding to the femme, one reassuring hand on her shoulder, the other supporting the sparkling's head.<p>

"You know what, Hook? How about we switch bodies and _you_ push the damn thing out? You keep saying 'it's almost over', the fragging thing's not out yet though is it?" Bonecrusher chuckled, until he saw that Twilight's red-hot glare was now turned on him.

"You think it's _funny_, Bonecrusher? _You_ try pushing a living being out of your stomach, and _then_ we'll see if it's fragging funny!" He shut up, blanching. Cyclonus laughed quietly behind his hand, smiling fondly down at his sparkmate. Suddenly, he heard a quiet cry coming from a little bundle that Hook held in his arms. Twilight was smiling slightly, exhausted. With a sigh, she fell into recharge, Bonecrusher kneeling down to push her stomach-plating back in place.

The chief medic walked up to Cyclonus, and held out the bundle for him to take. The SIC carefully accepted it, pulling back the blanket the sparkling had been wrapped up in so he could get a better look at his creation. He gasped quietly when a pair of dark, crimson optics locked with his own lighter ones.

With an almost inaudible click, the sparkling's chest plates pulled back. Cyclonus, knowing what he had to do, opened his own chest, and gently pushed his creation's spark against his own. He looked down at the sparkling and placed a kiss on it's forehead.

"Welcome to the world, little one."

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry I left you guys hanging again on the gender and designation, next chapter, I promise.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the other characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight.**


	76. Processor Ache

**I felt bad about leaving you all like that, so imma give you some more chapters before I leave tomorrow. Thanks to _ninjafighter2313_ and _TheSuperiorVision_ for reviewing! Written whilst listening to Sweet Child 'O Mine by Guns 'n' Roses. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight woke up slowly, feeling considerably... Lighter than before she had passed out. Then she remembered what had happened. Looking around, she realised that she was in the med bay back on Chaar, and her sparkling was nowhere to be found. As if on cue, Cyclonus walked in with their sparkling in his arms.<p>

"How are you feeling, love?" She shrugged.

"Okay, I guess. A little tired, though." She held out her arms, and her sparkmate carefully passed her the little Cybertronian wrapped up in a blanket.

"It's a mech." He said quietly, chuckling when her optics lit up with joy.

"But wait, there's more." She cocked her head to the side, and her unspoken question was answered when he pulled the blanket down a little further, showing off an unusual set of four wings that made an 'X' shape on the little mech's back.

"He... He's a flier..." She whispered, before wrapping one arm around Cyclonus' neck and using the other to hug her sparkling.

"He's perfect, Cyclonus, absolutely perfect." Smiling down at his family, the Decepticon SIC pressed his lips against Twilight's in a loving kiss before planting a kiss on his sparkling's forehead. Hook walked in a moment later, optics brightening behind his visor as they landed on the three Decepticons.

"Congratulations, you two. He's wonderful." Twilight smiled.

"Thank you, Hook. Do you need to run any tests?" Hook shook his head.

"You guys are free to go. Practically everyone's in the rec room, taking bets on all sorts of things. Whether it's a mech or a femme, who it looks like the most, I could stand here for _days_ making a list." The two Commanders laughed quietly, and Cyclonus helped his mate to her feet.

She cradled the sparkling close to her chest and her optics widened slightly when the little one's chest-plates clicked open. Realising what he had done it for, Twilight pulled back her own chest-plates, and carefully initiated a bond with her sparkling. Since they were on the other side of the room, the small family didn't notice the sad look that flashed across Hook's face-plates.

* * *

><p>On their way to the rec room, Twilight looked down at the sparkling in her arms.<p>

"Hm... He has my optics, but he has your frame - aside from the random extra pair of wings. He also kind of has my paint job." Cyclonus chuckled, smiling down at his creation. He did have Twilight's paint job, aside from the fact that the zig-zag markings were purple like Cyclonus' armour.

"Okay, so, he's pretty much a Cyclonus Jr." The second in command rolled his optics.

"We are _not_ calling him _Cyclonus Jr_." He stated with a laugh. As they walked on in silence, Cyclonus turned his head to look down at his beloved.

"What about Thundercracker?" Twilight seemed to consider it for a moment, before shaking her head.

"Nahh, I'd freak out if someone called for him." With a chuckle, Cyclonus suggested,

"Skywarp?"

"_Pit_ no." She laughed.

"What was that designation that you liked originally?" He asked her. She blushed slightly, shaking her head.

"Nahh, that one was stupid." Rolling his optics, Cyclonus sighed.

"Don't be _embarrassed_, tell me." She shook her head.

"It was a pointless designation, it wouldn't suit him anyway." Her spark turned traitor, however, unconsciously sending the designation through their bond.

"Ah, that was it." She face-palmed. With a raised optic ridge, Cyclonus said,

"Do you _seriously_ think that wouldn't suit him?" She shrugged, looking up at him sheepishly.

"Do you think it _does_?" He rolled his optics.

"Look at his paint job, Twilight. Of _course_ I do. We'll settle with that designation, then." The femme smiled.

"You sure?" He nodded with a smile of his own. Sighing, he looked down at her again, an apologetic look on his face-plates.

"Galvatron wishes to see me." She sighed back.

"Great, I guess that means we'll be facing the onslaught of soft-sparked Decepticons on our own then, little one." She said softly, smiling down at the little mech who was just waking up from a quick recharge. Cyclonus placed a kiss on his femme's and sparkling's foreheads before leaving for the throne room. Twilight stood outside the rec room's doors, bracing herself.

_'Oh yay, processor ache, here I come.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, that was a little harsh, I promise the designation will be revealed next chapter!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story other than Twilight.**


	77. Designation

**Only a few more chapters left to update and then I really need to go to bed. Apparently my body does not know of this mystical thing you call 'sleep' at the minute XD. Written whilst listening to Here I Am by Bryan Adams. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight silently pushed the door to the rec room open. Apparently, she wasn't silent enough. Every pair of optics were on her frame, as well as the tiny frame she held in her arms. Immediately, the room erupted into cheers and good-natured laughs. They all shushed when the sparkling's head shot up, surprised at all the sudden sound.<p>

The Decepticons cringed, waiting for the little mech to start crying, but he just shrugged, resting his head back on his mother's shoulder. Everyone chuckled slightly, standing and making their way over to the femme, who had sat down at the table in the centre of the room. Scourge got there first, grinning down at the two.

"He's _such_ a mini Cyc!" He muttered, astonished. As Twilight held her sparkling up so everyone could see, they all nodded in agreement.

"So," Astrotrain asked, "What's the little fella's designation?" When the 'little fella' started to protest at being held so high up, Twilight cradled him against her chest again.

"His designation," She started, looking down at the sparkling with a small, soft smile, "is Ravenstrike."

* * *

><p>Motormaster came up to Twilight, tapping her on the shoulder lightly. She turned around, cocking her head to the side.<p>

"What is it, Motormaster?" There was a faint blush on his cheek-plates, making her raise an optic ridge.

"...May I hold him?" Twilight looked shocked, but her expression quickly turned into one of amusement.

"What is _this_? _Motormaster_ showing a _soft_ side? It can't _be_!" He growled quietly, face-plates turning the same colour as the femme's optics.

"No! I've just... Never seen a sparkling before now." Twilight smiled.

"Most people here haven't, or, at least, it's been a long time since they have. Sure, you can hold him." Motormaster awkwardly lifted Ravenstrike out of his mother's arms. The little mech began to panic, whimpering quietly. The Stunticon immediately made to give him back to Twilight, who protested, shaking her head.

"He needs to get used to being held by people other than myself and Cyclonus." Twilight stepped around so she was by Motormaster's side, where Ravenstrike could see her. He reached for her, but Twilight shook her head again, patting the little one's head softly.

"It's alright, sweetspark. This is Motormaster. He's the leader of the Stunticons, and the self-proclaimed King of the Road." She added with a giggle. Growling, Motormaster handed Ravenstrike back to his mother - who held onto her tightly - before stalking off to go and sit with the other Stunticons, muttering something along the lines of: 'self-proclaimed my aft.' under his breath.

Giggling quietly, Twilight sat back down, picking up her cube of energon that she had gotten earlier. As she sipped a bit, Ravenstrike made a grab for it, making a soft murmuring sound.

"You thirsty, little one?" Twilight asked with a small smile. She lifted the cube to the sparkling's lips, and tipped it up slowly. The mech took a huge gulp before letting out a content sigh, burying his face-plates in the crook of his mother's neck. She giggled quietly.

"Hey, Twilight." Said femme looked up at the mech who had called her name.

"Hello, Astrotrain." He took the seat next to her, waving to Ravenstrike when the little mech lifted his head upon hearing the noise of the chair scraping across the floor. The sparkling cocked his head to one side before reaching out to Astrotrain, asking to be held. Twilight looked down at her creation, surprised.

"That's new. Go on, you can hold him, if you like." Astrotrain looked a little sheepish.

"I'm not sure-" Ravenstrike made a demanding noise in the back of his throat, arms still outstretched in the triple changer's direction. Chuckling, Astrotrain took him out of his mother's hands.

"Hey there, little fella. He really does have Cyclonus' frame, huh?" Twilight nodded, laughing when Ravenstrike noticed one of his elongated audio-receptors and pulled at it, not sure what it was there for. Astrotrain laughed along with her. The femme stopped when she felt a tug on her spark from Cyclonus.

_~Galvatron wants to meet Ravenstrike. Could you bring him into the throne room?~_ Twilight nodded out of habit.

**_~Sure, I'll be there in a second.~_** Turning to Astrotrain, she sent him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I'll have to take my sparkling back now, the Mighty Galvatron has summoned us." The purple and grey mech chuckled.

"Alright. Here ya go." Ravenstrike wrapped his tiny arms around his creator's neck when he was passed back to her.

"See ya." Astrotrain waved as the two walked out the door. Twilight smiled down at her sparkling, before realising with a slight jolt that Soundwave had yet to see him. She made a mental note to go to his quarters after seeing Galvatron. With that in mind, the Decepticon femme shifted her arms around Ravenstrike's small frame as they made their way to the throne room.

* * *

><p><strong>So basically I put all the (mech) designations that I had thought up and all the ones that people had sent in into a jar, and Ravenstrike was the one I pulled out. Thank you all for your suggestions!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, apart from Twilight and Ravenstrike.**


	78. Mini Bunny Ears

**So tired, but I'm determined to get the rest of these chapters up XD. Didn't listen to anything whilst writing this, so I have nothing to suggest. Thanks to _Corevil_ for reviewing! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Twilight opened the door to the throne room, smiling slightly at her bondmate and leader as their optics turned to her. Galvatron chuckled quietly as Ravenstrike's head lifted and he caught sight of his mech creator. Immediately, he reached out to Cyclonus, asking to be held.<p>

The SIC was more than willing to take him, lifting his sparkling carefully out of Twilight's arms. The newborn mech looked upon Galvatron with unease, but after his creations had soothed him through their bonds, he held his arms out for the Decepticon warlord to hold him.

"May I?" Galvatron asked. His two Commanders nodded. They watched as the regal-looking mech picked up the sparkling surprisingly gently. The two Decepticons stood by his side shared a look, they were just as dumbfounded as each-other.

"It's been quite a while since I've held a sparkling." Galvatron muttered quietly. Twilight raised an optic ridge, knowing that the side of her leader that still held whatever was left of Megatron was showing itself again.

"I wasn't aware you'd _ever_ held a sparkling, sire." This elicited another quiet laugh from the mech. He changed the subject though, handing Ravenstrike back to his father.

"He will learn how to fight whenever you are ready for him to, I will not force you into teaching him at too young an age. However, Twilight, I do expect you to start working again soon." She nodded.

"Of course, sire." The two soldiers bowed respectfully before leaving the room.

* * *

><p>As Cyclonus punched in the access code to their quarters, Twilight took Ravenstrike out of his arms. He turned to her, head cocked to the side.<p>

"I'm just going to visit Soundwave, he hasn't seen him yet." The second in command nodded, giving his sparkmate a quick kiss before entering their quarters, Twilight walking the short distance across the hall to Soundwave's quarters. She knocked on the door quietly, and it only took a moment for Soundwave to open it. She saw his visor brighten in what she was sure was surprise, but he refrained from letting out a gasp.

"Hurry up, Boss! Let her in!" Twilight could hear Frenzy yell from somewhere inside Soundwave's quarters. The mech stepped back, letting Twilight walk in. Rumble and Frenzy gasped quietly when they saw the little ball of black and purple armour curled up in the femme's arms. She took a seat on her brother's berth, and let the Cassetticons crowd around her and her son.

Ravenstrike was fast in recharge, and missed Rumble and Frenzy's chuckles.

"We have ourselves a mini Bunny-ears!" Twilight rolled her optics.

_'Oh, Primus help you, little one.'_

* * *

><p>The Cassettes had left to go on patrol, and Soundwave was left alone with his 'sister' and her sparkling.<p>

"He's amazing, Sister. Truly amazing." The two smiled warmly down at the sparkling who was just starting to wake up. When the little mech's eyes finally opened fully, he stared up curiously into Soundwave's visor. Reaching up with a tiny hand, Ravenstrike pulled at it, wondering what it was. He jumped slightly when Soundwave retracted the visor and let his bright red optics show.

"Afternoon, little one." The communications mech chuckled.

"This is your 'uncle' Soundwave." Twilight smiled down at her sparkling. Small arms wrapped around the navy Decepticon's neck as Ravenstrike made a sound that could only be described as a quiet laugh, giving his 'uncle' a hug. Soundwave smiled, holding the young Decepticon closely.

"Aww, is Uncle Soundwave getting all emotional?" Twilight cooed, flicking her 'brother' on the cheek-plate. Soundwave rolled his optics, handing Ravenstrike back to his mother before his mask and visor snapped back into place.

"Go on, Cyclonus is probably missing you both." Twilight rolled her optics, hugging the navy mech before walking out of his quarters and into her own. Cyclonus wasn't there, which confused the femme, until he sensed her confusion and contacted her through their bond. When he spoke, the message was a simple word.

_~Scourge.~_ Twilight's optics rolled skyward again before she giggled slightly, shifting the sparkling in her arms so she could sit down on the berth. Not a moment after she had sat herself down, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." She called out, too tired to be bothered about who it was. She wasn't that surprised when it turned out to be Hook. He closed the door behind him and stood there awkwardly for a moment, making Twilight raise an optic ridge.

"What is it, Hook? Do you need to run any tests?" He shook his head, hands clasped firmly behind his back as he remained in his awkward stance.

"Primus, mech, spit it out! What's wrong?" Sighing, the Constructicon shook his head.

"I don't know why I came here. To make an idiot of myself, apparently." Cocking her head to the side, Twilight thought she could hear _sadness_ in the medic's tone.

"...You want to sit down?" He nodded, sitting beside her.

"I guess I just wanted to say congratulations... Again. It's been so long since I've seen a sparkling, and the little fella tugs at my spark strings. Even longer since I delivered a sparkling, now that I think about it."

"You've delivered a sparkling before?" Hook nodded.

"Only once before. Twice, technically, because it was twins that I delivered." Twilight sighed with a small smirk.

"Thank Primus you didn't have to deliver twins again." He chuckled very quietly at that, but the femme knew that there was more to the story.

"If you don't mind me asking, whose twins were they? I understand if you're not allowed to say, patient's privacy and all. It's just that you seem... Close to the twins in question." The answer the medic gave her wasn't one she was expecting, and her spark clenched with sympathy.

"...They were my own." Hook lifted his head then, locking optics with the femme by his side.

"That's why I came here. I had some stupid thought that I could confide in you and-"

"You _can_, Hook. I'm not about to tell anyone." He sighed, holding his head in his hands.

"Years ago, I bonded with a femme I'd known for practically my whole life, and we had twin sparklings. I loved the three of them more than anything, and, of course, the rest of the 'Constructicons' - though we were not called that back then - got on with them all really well. Then Megatron's troops came. Back then, the Decepticon cause wasn't even a rumour you'd pick up on the streets, it was virtually nonexistent."

"Shockwave was just starting to develop 'gestalt' technology, and he needed a test subject. Somehow, Megatron found out about us and decided that _we_ were the 'lucky' few who would be used for the testing. At first, none of us accepted his offer, but his troops did their best to be as... Persuasive as possible."

"One shot was fired into Flashback - my son's - tanks as a 'warning'. I couldn't get to him quick enough. The next bullet hit my sparkmate Flameheart in the head, and the third went through my daughter Electra's spark." Twilight's entire frame was rattling with barely controlled rage and shock.

"Who did this, Hook?" He knew where she was heading with that question, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks for offering, but I dealt with him myself. He needed immediate medical attention, I let him bleed out into the dirt." Twilight smirked.

"Not _half _of what I would've done in your place, but impressive, nonetheless." He chuckled.

"Thanks." She rocked back on her palms, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Primus, Hook, I can't believe this... Do you... Have any pictures of them?" He nodded, pulling a holographic projector not unlike Twilight's own out of his subspace. After turning it on, he handed it to her. She gaped in an almost comical way at the picture of Hook, hand entwined with a red and orange femme's. There was a little red sparkling in his free arm, with another - this time with a paint job of his shades of green and purple - in his sparkmate's.

"They're so... Cute. So... Innocent, and naïve. They didn't deserve what happened to them, I'm so sorry for your loss." He shook his head as she returned his projector.

"She wouldn't be proud of me right now. I joined the faction that took them from me, I've murdered countless people-"

"Yes, and you've also saved many people, including _me_, more times than I can keep count of. You've also avenged your loved ones' deaths. Do not hate yourself, no matter what faction you alligned yourself with, you would still be fighting. And I'd rather you were here than with those pathetic Autobots." He managed a small smile.

"_Thanks_, Twilight. I also... Wanted to apologise, for that little... _Disagreement_ we had after you came back from... Drax, was it?" She nodded, and then rolled her optics.

"It's all been forgotten, don't fret about it now."

"As much as I hate playing the blame game, it was the others who put me up to it. I wasn't exactly... Comfortable with-" Twilight laughed quietly.

"You don't have to explain yourself, I understand perfectly well." She held out her now recharging sparkling.

"You want to hold him?" Hook smiled down at the little mech, carefully picking him up out of his mother's arms. His smile faltered for a moment, as he thought of his sparklings, who should be beside him, and of his sparkmate, who should be lying with him when he recharged. He quickly handed Ravenstrike back to his creator. With a grateful smile, Hook placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"I'd better get going, no doubt Cyclonus will be coming back soon." She smiled back, smacking him upside the head playfully.

"I'll be seeing you, Hook. I'll keep this between us, I promise." He nodded in thanks before leaving the room. Looking down at her sparkling, Twilight sighed.

"Who'd have guessed, eh?" She stifled a yawn, lying down with Ravenstrike in her arms. After thinking for a moment, she contacted Cyclonus through the bond.

_**~You might want to stop by the med bay on your way back and get a berth for the little one. I'll be paranoid about squishing him.~** _She heard his chuckle.

_~Very well then, love. You sound tired, is everything alright?~_

_'How does he pick up on **every** little thing?'_

_**~Cyclonus, I'm-~**_

_~Fine? Yes, you always seem to be.~_ She rolled her optics, jabbing him harshly through the bond.

_~That... Actually hurt a little.~_

_**~Good.~**_ He laughed again. The femme sighed, struggling for awareness. She could feel recharge creeping up on her.

**_~Ugh, I don't think I'll be awake when you get back, so I'll say goodnight in advance. Goodnight.~_** He chuckled again, sending her waves of calm and love through their bond.

_~Goodnight love, sweet dreams.~_ With that, he made his way from the throne room to the med bay.

* * *

><p>As she had predicted, Twilight had fallen into recharge before Cyclonus had returned to their quarters. He smiled softly down at her and their sparkling, who was tucked carefully under Twilight's arm. Kissing them both on the forehead, he set to work nailing the little berth to the floor and setting up the railings so Ravenstrike couldn't roll out. He was as quiet as possible, knowing that his sparkmate was a light recharger.<p>

She didn't awaken, though, even when he took the young mech from her arms and placed him in his new crib, she still didn't stir. He thought too soon, however, because when he moved to lie beside her, she rolled over and her optics opened sleepily.

He didn't say anything, hoping she'd just fall back into recharge, Primus knew she hadn't been getting enough of it lately. But it seemed that now Ravenstrike was out of her, she'd turned back into the light recharger she'd been before. Blinking up at him, she cocked her head to the side.

"How long have you been there for?" He rolled his optics with a small smile.

"I only just got here. Come on, go back into recharge, lord knows you need it." She rolled her optics. Before she could speak, he shushed her.

"Don't argue with me, you need to rest." Once again, her optics rolled skyward, but she smiled at how much he cared for her. After leaning up and pecking his cheek-plate, she rested her head on his chest.

"Goodnight, Cyclonus."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Twilight, Flashback, Electra, Flameheart and Ravenstrike.<strong>


	79. Specimen

**First off, I'm really really_ really_ sorry for the wait, I didn't mean to drop off the face of the Earth for however long I did, but... mehh. There's been a lot going on in the family recently, and I just couldn't find the time (or the will) to update. Didn't listen to any inspiring music when I wrote this, and that's probably why it turned out so crappy. I'm really not happy with this chapter or the one after it at all, but I felt that you guys deserved an update, so I'll post it anyway (I can always come back and tweak it if I can be bothered). Excuse the horribly awful time gap, but this chapter skips ahead by about 4 years... (please don't hit me). Once again, I didn't want the chapters to become filler-ish (even though they kinda already are), and... I really don't have an excuse. I've felt like crap lately, and this chapter feels crap and half-hearted (or, in my opinion it does at least). A huge thank-you to _TheLoveDov_, _ninjafighter2313_, _TheSuperiorVision_ and _Corevil_ for reviewing! Uhh... Enjoy?**

* * *

><p>"Momma! Momma! Did you see how fast I just flew?" Ravenstrike yelled, running up to Twilight and tackling her into a hug.<p>

"That was amazing! You're getting so much better!" Cyclonus landed beside his family, smiling down at them.

"You've almost got it down to a T, you just need to work on your landing technique." Ravenstrike blushed with embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. But that excitement came rushing back in a matter of moments as the youngling grabbed his father's huge hand in his tiny one and tugged at it.

"C'mon dad, let's _go_! Are you coming this time momma?" Smiling sadly, Twilight shook her head.

"I prefer the view from down here. Go on, go have fun." As Ravenstrike took off again, Cyclonus walked up to his sparkmate, kissing her softly. He sent her a sympathetic look when he broke away, and she waved him off.

"Stop feeling sorry for me. I'm not missing out on anything." He sighed.

"Your spark betrays you, love." She sighed back.

"Honestly, I'd rather you taught him without me. I'd be a hindrance, I'd get in the way." He rolled his optics.

"You know that's not true." She pushed him away from her, pointing up to the sky.

"I'm not arguing with you about this again, Cyclonus. Now go teach our son how to fly." She smiled. As he flew off, she called out:

"I _told_ you he'd have a pair of wings that would put you to shame!" He sent her that cocky, charming smirk.

"And I still doubt it!" She laughed, and took a moment to look around at the planet they had stopped on. Galvatron had let Cyclonus and Twilight take some time off to teach Ravenstrike how to fly. Originally, they were planning on going to Thellion, but they found a barren planet much closer, and decided to stop there instead.

Hearing the sound of thrusters firing up, she looked up to watch Cyclonus and her son start training again. A noise to her left caught her attention, and she raised an optic ridge to see Astrotrain land not far away from her. She walked up to him, confused.

"Astrotrain? What's going on?"

"Galvatron wants you, Cyclonus and your sparkling to return to base, he sent me to pick you up." Frowning, Twilight turned away to call her family.

"Well hello to you too." She muttered under her breath. There were many things about this situation that were suspicious. For one, Astrotrain's greeting was more than curt. He didn't refer to Ravenstrike by his designation, nor did he call him 'the little fella'. And Galvatron should have just commed them if he wanted them to come back. Shaking her head to get rid of the pestering thoughts, she called up to her son and sparkmate.

"Hey! We're going to have to cut this lesson short!" They looked down at her, and she could feel their confusion through her bonds with them. As soon as they saw Astrotrain, their minds were eased... A little. Cyclonus sent Twilight a look, and she shrugged. They boarded Astrotrain without a word, Ravenstrike flying from his father's side to hover beside his mother.

* * *

><p>Astrotrain's interior was pitch black, which startled Cyclonus. Suddenly, the lights came on, and he sighed, about to speak. But his optics were met with a sight they didn't quite believe. Twilight was stood opposite him, claw blades deployed, mask and visor in place. Ravenstrike was nowhere in sight, and the SIC started to worry.<p>

"Love, what's going on?" It was then that Cyclonus took a proper look at his surroundings, and saw that the plain box-shaped room he was in looked nothing like the inside of Astrotrain's alt mode. He was too distracted by this realisation, and didn't notice Twilight running towards him, preparing to strike. She knocked him to the floor, holding her blades against his throat.

"Twilight-" She swung her other arm down, and the mech beneath her caught her wrist just before she could slice his head in half.

"Are you_ insane_, Twilight?" He yelled, but she continued to attack in a deathly silence. He caught her wrist again, and, to his surprise, it snapped backwards, breaking. He stared in horror. _How_ could he have just done that to her? Before he could speak, Twilight disappeared before his very optics.

"She... Was an illusion?" Rage coursed through him when the walls surrounding him shone briefly before revealing where he truly was: in a cell.

"Whoever you are, I demand that you release me!" He snarled. Seeing the energon bars that made up one wall of the cell, he stalked over to them. Looking around, Cyclonus saw no sign of his captor. He did, however, see two identical cells opposite his own.

"Primus... I can't believe this..."

* * *

><p>Twilight looked around in the darkness she had been plunged into, turning up the brightness of her optics to try and work out where the frag she was, but to no avail. The lights turned on, and her optics' brightness returned to their normal setting.<p>

To her surprise, she was in a box-shaped room - that was most definitely _not_ Astrotrain's alt mode - and Cyclonus was standing opposite her. Suddenly, blaster fire was raining down upon her, courtesy of none other than her own sparkmate.

"Raven, get behind me!" Twilight ordered, and, whilst the little mech was confused, he was terrified enough to do as he was told. His tiny arms hooked around her neck and he held on for dear life. Quick as a flash, Twilight unsheathed her claw blades and ran Cyclonus straight through.

"Momma! What are you doing?" Ravenstrike yelled.

"That wasn't your father, Ravenstrike. I _know_ it wasn't." Sure enough, the offline Cyclonus disappeared in a flash of purple light. The walls around the two Decepticons shone for a moment, before showing Twilight and Ravenstrike where they really were. They were trapped in a cell, like helpless prisoners.

To their astonishment, there were two cells opposite theirs, each housing a prisoner. There was also another one beside theirs and there was a small window that allowed contact with that cell. Ravenstrike, being as young and curious as he was, flew over to see who was in the cell next to theirs.

"Momma! Look, dad's in this cell!" Running over to the little window, Twilight's optics widened.

* * *

><p>Cyclonus heard the frantic voice of his sparkling, and he shot over to the little window to his right.<p>

"Twilight! Ravenstrike! I'm so glad you're both okay!" His femme managed a small smile, but it didn't quite reach her optics.

"Where do you think we are?" He shrugged.

"I have no idea." Their question was soon answered when a Quintesson came through a door to the right of their cells, followed by an Allicon guard.

"A Quintesson!" The voice Twilight heard wasn't Cyclonus' and she ran up to the energon bars that kept her from escaping, finally taking a proper look at the other prisoners. There was a human, whom Twilight disregarded immediately, and then in the cell opposite her sparkmate's was none other than Ultra Magnus.

"What do you plan on doing to us?" The human demanded to know. The Quintesson - of scientist class - laughed at her.

"Know your place, imbecile! You are all specimens for my experiment, and you will behave as such! I will dispose of you when I am finished with you, like the pathetic lab rats that you are!" Twilight growled, pushing her sparkling behind her. It was no surprise that the Quintesson seemed to think himself above all who he had successfully imprisoned, the look on his face as he made his way to Twilight's cell assured them all of that.

"We'll start with the sparkling." That's when Marissa Faireborn noticed the 'baby' Decepticon hiding behind his mother. Ultra Magnus noticed him too, and stood up, walking up to the bars.

"Like _Pit_ you will!" Twilight snarled, deploying her claw blades. The Quintesson attempted to reach past her with his tentacles, trying to get at Ravenstrike. Three little claw blades identical to Twilight's shot out of the back of the sparkling's hand, and he sliced the tip of one of the tentacles clean off. The scientist howled in pain, staggering back. The Allicon guard made to attack the sparkling, but, after seeing the look on Twilight's face-plates, he backed off.

"You'll pay for that, child!" Twilight's scowl grew, and her fierce glare practically burned holes into the Quintesson's body.

"If you value your life, you'll turn this ship around and take us to Chaar, _now_." She said, voice dangerously quiet.

"Are you _threatening_ me, specimen?" A malicious smirk spread across her face-plates.

"Oh, no. Not yet. Trust me, scientist, you will _know_ when I begin to threaten you. So let's hope I won't have to." The Quintesson muttered something unintelligible to the Allicon beside him, and before anybody could react, the room was swarming with Allicons. Ravenstrike was soon in one of the guards' clutches, as was Twilight.

A collar was placed around the femme's neck before she could even think about attacking. The Quintesson pushed a button on it, and Twilight's claw blades disappeared into their casing. She frowned, trying to make them come out again, but nothing happened.

"Now, if _you_ value _your_ life, you'll let me continue my experiments. Understood, femme?" She scowled, and her optics narrowed into blood red slits as the Quintesson reached for her son.

"I value the life of my sparkling over my own. You can - and you _will_ - experiment on me first. If _anything_ happens to _any_ of your other 'specimens', I swear to Primus you'll be begging for death by the time I'm finished with you." A disgusting smirk appeared on the Quintesson's face, and he cackled.

"I never thought I'd here a response like_ that_ from a sparkless Decepticon like you! Very well, if you'll follow me." He motioned for the two Allicons that held the femme by the arms to follow him, which they did.

"I'm buying you time to get out of here, _use _it!" Twilight hissed quietly to her 'fellow prisoners'. The other Allicons made their way back into the lower levels of the ship, two staying behind to keep an eye on the prisoners. Ravenstrike was flung into his father's cell, his little optics wide with horror.

"Dad, where are they taking momma?" Cyclonus sighed.

"I... Don't know, Raven, I don't know." The sound of a saw starting up met everyone's audios - or, in Marissa's case, ears - and it wasn't long before it was accompanied by a spark-wrenching scream that was undeniably female. It soon shifted into a mechanical screech that kept rising and rising.

"Oh dear Primus, Twilight... No... _No_!" Cyclonus sprang forward, kicking the energon bars with all his strength. He only succeeded in giving himself a rather nasty burn. Ravenstrike covered his audios with his little hands, curling up into a ball.

_~Momma! Momma can you hear me? You're going to be okay momma! I know you are! You're strong, you can kick their afts!~_ The sparkling got no response, and he started to sob quietly. Cyclonus ran over to his creation, picking him up and cradling him close to his chest.

"Everything's going to be fine, Ravenstrike, I promise you. We're going to get out of here, momma's going to be okay, and you're going to become the best flier the universe has ever seen. I promise you, Raven, everything will be fine."

Ultra Magnus had begun to threaten the guards, but they simply laughed and continued blocking the doorway. Marissa was watching the Decepticon second in command with confusion. She'd never seen a Decepticon act so kind, so... _caring_. The scream cut off after a while, but the noise of the saw continued. It didn't take long for everyone in the room to guess what that most likely meant.

_~Twilight? Twilight, love, are you there? I swear to Primus Twilight if you leave me I will royally kick your aft in the Well of All Sparks! Twilight, answer me, **please**!~_ Nothing. Cyclonus fell to his knees, holding his sparkling close. The silence that reigned was absolute.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry once again for the total let-down that was this chapter. It's really sloppily written and I just feel like I'm putting Cyc and Twilight through one tragedy after another and not leaving any gaps between them, I promise that things will wind down a bit after this little mishap.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any characters that I use in this story other than Twilight and Ravenstrike.**

**P.S. **Oh, and guess what? I'm leaving you all for another week or so to visit my dad. Sorry 'bout that ^^;. (As usual, I'll put up the dates and stuff on my profile).****


	80. Shattered Glass

**I'm BAAAAAACCKK! I had a GCSE Science exam yesterday and I did _CRAP_. I don't know why I just told you that, I figured you'd want to be up to date with my school life XD. Now you shall all cower in fear of this chapter because it is just as sloppy and disappointing as it's predecessor! WOOOO 8D! It was written whilst listening to Wires by Athlete and Nothin's Gonna Stand in Our Way by Spectre General. Thanks to _TheSuperiorVision_, _TheLoveDov_ and_ Corevil_ for reviewing! Uhh, hope you enjoy then!**

* * *

><p>The deathly silence was interrupted by the deafening sound of thunder, the Quintesson ship was passing through an electron storm. Cyclonus couldn't care less. As long as his sparkling was safe, he didn't give a damn. His mate was gone. Forever. Yet something didn't make sense.<p>

The severing of a bond was supposed to be the most painful thing any Cybertronian could ever experience, and yet Cyclonus was not feeling any physical pain. Neither was Ravenstrike, by the looks of things. All of a sudden, the second in command of the Autobots had a bright idea.

As the ship's circuits were weakened by the electron storm, Ultra Magnus grabbed onto the energon bars of his cell, successfully short-circuiting the bars of all the cells around his as well as his own. Before the electron storm could start to affect the Cybertronians' circuits, the ship was smoothly steered out of it's path.

Cyclonus and Ultra Magnus quickly dealt with the two Allicon guards before knocking down the doors to the ship's control room. Neither were sure they were prepared for what they were going to see. And they certainly weren't.

* * *

><p>Twilight stood at the control panel of the ship, not a scratch on her. Everybody gaped at the femme, not quite sure what exactly was happening.<p>

"_What_ are you all staring at?" She asked with a smirk and a raised optic ridge.

"_Momma_?" Ravenstrike asked quietly, not sure whether it was another Quintesson trick. The 'prisoners' all deemed the femme before them to be the real Twilight, as the Quintesson was cowering in fear in a corner of the room and the body of two decapitated Allicon guards lay limp against the wall. Ravenstrike flew into his mother's arms, and she caught him, holding him close.

"I... I thought they'd got you..." He whispered.

"I'm sorry, Raven, I'm so sorry, but I needed you to think that so that I could get you out of there." Cyclonus raised an optic ridge, walking over to the discarded saw on the other side of the room and kneeling down to examine it. His optics widened as he saw that there were three sharp black shards of metal strewn across the floor beside it.

Standing and making his way back over to his family, he frowned at Twilight.

"Ravenstrike, go talk to the Autobot for a while."

"Dad?"

"Just _go_, son." The little mech did as he was told, flying off. Twilight looked down at the floor, knowing full well why Cyclonus had sent their creation away.

"What was that?" He asked.

"What was what?" He shook his head, favouring her with a glare.

"No, _don't_ do this right now. You _know_ what I mean. I thought you'd been offlined, Twilight." She didn't look at him.

"I had to make you think that." That frown was still firmly set on his face-plates.

"Are these what I think they are?" The femme deployed her claw blades, showing that one set had been cut off from where she'd held back the saw.

"The Allicon hadn't secured that damn collar properly."

"And the screaming?"

"It was a neccessity. The Quintesson had to believe that I was in pain." Cyclonus nodded, in what seemed like sarcastic understanding, before rounding on her again.

"What about the bond? You cut off your end of the bond from me _and_ Ravenstrike. Do you have_ any_ idea how worried we were?" She sighed.

"Cyclonus, I had to make you believe that-"

"That you were offline? Yes, well your plan worked. What I'd like to know is why the frag that was even _part_ of your plan."

"Allicons are smarter than Sharkticons, or, at least, some of them are. If you didn't believe what you were hearing, they would have figured me out." He shook his head, grabbing her shoulders.

"_Never_ do that to me again. I almost lost you once, love." She smiled.

"I'm sorry. I should have warned you beforehand, guess it slipped my mind." He rolled his optics with a slightly sarcastic smile, pulling her into his chest and holding her tightly. Without warning, the ship suddenly spun, knocking everyone to the ground. Twilight pulled herself out from beneath her sparkmate and crawled over to Ravenstrike.

"Hey, Raven, you okay?" He nodded. Cyclonus walked over to them both.

"Are you both alright?" They nodded, Twilight raising an optic ridge.

"What about you?" Rolling his optics, he nodded.

"Yes, _dear_, I'm fine." The femme stood, and her son flew up to hover beside her.

"Oh Primus..." The three Decepticons all saw what the ship was heading for. A black hole. Ravenstrike gulped, holding onto his mother tightly.

"Scrap." The femme muttered, turning to give the Quintesson scientist a piece of her mind, only to find that he was not there.

"Where is he?" She growled. Turning on her heel quickly, she had time to catch sight of the organic heading for the back of the ship.

"One of you needs to send a distress signal, I've got the Quintesson." Cyclonus nodded, moving for the control panel. Despite her protests, Magnus followed her into the back of the ship whilst Ravenstrike stayed with his father and the human.

"You know," Magnus began, "you almost gave me a spark attack there." Twilight rolled her optics.

"Don't_ you_ start, I've already been told off for that." Sighing, the Autobot remained silent, and it didn't take long for them to find the Quintesson, heading for the only functioning escape pod. He had yet to see the two Cybertronians, so Twilight silently stalked up behind him and plucked him rather roughly from his seat.

"Let go of me you inferior life form!" Twilight's face got uncomfortably close to the Quintesson's.

"Listen here, you pile of slag, you are going to get us out of the path of that black hole, no matter what it takes."

"And if I don't?" Twilight deployed her remaining set of claw blades, holding them dangerously close to the scientist's face.

"If you _don't_, I'll rip off all your worthless little limbs, one. By. _One_. And then you'll go squish under my 'inferior' foot. Do you understand me, Quintesson?" He nodded hurriedly, but as she turned away, a scheming smirk grew on his face.

"Magnus, get the human."

"What? Why?"

"She needs to get out of here. She has more of a chance of getting stepped on than _he_ does at the minute." She indicated to the scientist. Ultra Magnus nodded, turning around to call in the human by the name of Marissa. Before anyone could react, however, the Quintesson had slipped from the femme's grasp and launched the escape pod with no-one inside it.

Twilight staggered back into the cell area as the room started to depressurise. The Autobot second in command didn't make it, however, and he was pulled out of the ship.

"Slag! Magnus!" Upon hearing her shout, the remaining prisoners all rushed into the cell area. Cyclonus looked down at his mate.

"Where is he?" She knew he wasn't bothered about Ultra Magnus, he wanted to know where the Quintesson had slithered off to.

"Over there." Twilight pointed at the scientist in disgust. He was cowering in a corner of one of the cells. Sighing when he felt worry flowing through the bond, Cyclonus grabbed Ultra Magnus with a tractor beam, pulling him back aboard the ship. Twilight rolled her optics when her sparkmate huffed down at her, reaching up to peck him on the cheek-plate.

"You _seriously_ owe me for this." He muttered into her audio. Laughing, she ran off into the control room with Ravenstrike following closely behind her. Rolling his optics, Cyclonus turned to leave, but a certain Autobot stopped him.

"You saved me?" The Decepticon didn't bother turning around.

"_Don't_ get the wrong idea. I did it for her, and _only_ for her." As he walked away, Cyclonus called over his shoulder,

"Besides, warriors such as you and I should meet their ends in battle."

* * *

><p>The news the two commanders were met with once they entered the control room wasn't good, to say the least.<p>

"The engine's have overloaded, there's not much more we can do." Everyone watched as the ship passed through the black hole, certain that that was the end for all of them. Surprisingly, the ship tumbled for a moment as it went through, sending everyone crashing to the ground again, but that was all that happened.

"Love, are you-" Cyclonus cut himself off when he saw his sparkmate.

"Yeah, I'm fi-" Another gasp as Twilight caught sight of what had happened to the mech before her. His armor had turned a faint golden-yellow colour, and his optics were a bright green. Looking down at herself, Twilight saw that her paint job had been altered as well.

Her black armour had been turned blue, the markings now purple instead of red. Cyclonus helped her stand, and she saw her reflection in one of the control panels' shattered monitors. Her optics were a light blue now, startling her. The Decepticon insignia on her neck was red instead of purple, and Twilight realised that she looked like an Autobot, much to her disgust.

The lighter colours made her features seem softer, she didn't look half as menacing as she did before. Without realising it, Twilight practically broadcasted her disapproval through her bond with Cyclonus, making him laugh at how childish she was acting.

_~If it's any consolation, I prefer your usual look.~_ He chuckled at her.

She hit him lightly on the arm, but before she could say anything, Ravenstrike flew over. Like her, his usually black armour was blue, as were his optics. The Decepticon insignias that were branded on his audios had been turned red, and his zig-zag markings had been turned the same shade of gold as Cyclonus' armour.

"What just happened?" The little mech asked. It wasn't one of his creators that answered him, though.

"It appears that we have entered a negative universe..." The Quintesson stared outside at the bright stars in awe. Twilight growled, stalking over to him.

"Enough sightseeing. I'd very much like to go back to _our_ universe as soon as possible." The Quintesson sighed, but his composure wavered slightly under the Decepticon femme's glare.

"Yes, yes, of course. I will plot a course back through the, well, _white_ hole, but_ you_ need to start working on getting the engines back up and running." She nodded, making her way into the back of the ship. Sighing, her visor flipped down.

"Let's get to it then."

* * *

><p>The engines were soon fixed - after using the spare parts from the offline Allicons - and Twilight made her way back into the control room.<p>

"I do hope you realise that if we enter the white hole at the wrong trajectory, we will all be destroyed." The Quintesson warned, nervous tentacles hovering over the control panel.

"Then you'd better get it right." Twilight growled, stepping forward.

"I would have a better chance if I had _all_ of my tentacles!" The scientist raised his voice pointedly.

"Oh, quit your whining! Knowing you, you'll just fabricate a mechanic one."

"And make a part of me like you? I think _not_!" Rolling her optics, Twilight deployed her claw blades. There were still spots of the Allicons' energon on them.

"Just hurry and get us back!" The Quintesson mumbled something under his breath, but neither the Cybertronians nor the human could hear what. Cyclonus gripped his mate's hand tightly and said mate held onto their sparkling with just as strong a hold.

"Well, here goes nothing..."

* * *

><p>Twilight practically threw herself face-down onto her berth, sighing in exhaustion. The Quintesson had done it, and the ship had exited the 'white' hole to arrive in the middle of a battle. Astrotrain had picked the three Decepticons up, and now they were back on Chaar. Ravenstrike laughed at his mother.<p>

"Are you tired, momma?" He asked with a chuckle not unlike his father's. Lifting her head, she smiled wearily up at him.

"You're turning into your father. I don't need another one of him." Cyclonus chuckled, lying down beside his mate.

"I'm gonna go and get a wash." The little flier disappeared into the wash racks, leaving his parents alone. Twilight sighed, looking down at the ground.

"...I'm sorry about my little stunt on the Quintesson ship, I-" Hooking a finger under her chin, Cyclonus forced his sparkmate to make optic contact with him.

"Let's just forget about it, okay?" Leaning down, the SIC captured Twilight's lips in a kiss. After they broke apart, he leaned down and whispered in her audio.

"But you still owe me for saving Magnus." The femme rolled her crimson optics.

"And I'd hoped you'd forgotten about that." The faint sound of the showers running stopped, and the two soldiers sat up as their son came out of the wash racks.

"Hey Raven, how about we go and see Uncle Soundwave?" Twilight offered, hauling herself off of the berth and walking over to her sparkling.

"Okay, what for?"

"Never you mind, now come on." The two left their quarters, crossing the hallway and knocking on Soundwave's door. It was Rumble who answered, unfortunately for the femme.

"Hey there, Twi, Mini Bunny-Ears! How ya doin'?" Twilight's optics met the ceiling.

"Is Soundwave in, Rumble?"

"Well hello to you too." The Decepticon femme face-palmed and pushed past the Cassetticon into her brother's quarters. Soundwave was sat at his desk, and after Rumble had shut the door, his mask snapped back.

"Hello, Ravenstrike, Sister, what can I do for you?" Twilight smiled, hugging her 'brother' quickly.

"I was just wondering if you could watch over Ravenstrike for about an hour, I need to talk to Cyclonus." Frenzy appeared from around the corner, jumping onto Soundwave's berth. His twin followed suit shortly after, smirking wildly.

"Ah, you need to _talk_ with Cyclonus, eh?"

"Something tells me that'll take _more_ than just an hour." The black and red femme growled, very close to slapping the two around the head.

"Not _that_ kind of talk." They both chuckled, threatening to break out into hysterical laughter.

"What do they mean, momma?"

"Nothing, Raven, it's nothing." Leaning closer so her son couldn't hear, Twilight got her face-plates inches away from the twins'.

"You say _anything_ to corrupt him and I swear to Primus I will _end_ you." They simply laughed off her threat.

"I'm assuming he will stay the night then?" Soundwave asked with a smirk. Twilight gaped at him.

"Brother, not you too! I_ told_ you, it's _not_ that kind of talk!" The femme's face-plates grew a faint red, deepening as she grew even more flustered.

"Whoa, the Boss just told _a joke_!"

"Yeah, and it was _funny_!" Both Soundwave and Twilight rolled their optics.

"Let him stay the night, Sister."

"I'll stay with Uncle Soundwave, momma, I don't mind." Sighing, Twilight nodded in resignation.

"_Fine_, but it_ still_ isn't that kind of talk." She cut her optics at Rumble and Frenzy who were still laughing wildly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

"Go on then, go and _speak_ with Cyclonus." Kissing her son on the forehead, Twilight made to leave the room but was stopped by the twins.

"Have a nice _chat_!" Growling irritably, the femme slammed the door shut behind her as she left the room and headed for her quarters across the hall. As she entered her quarters, shutting the door behind her, she saw that the room was empty.

"Cyclonus? I-" Twilight was cut off as she was promptly pinned to the wall behind her.

What had she been saying about it _not_ being that kind of talk?

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story, other than Ravenstrike and Twilight.<strong>

**P.S - Yes, this was based off an episode, brownie points to anyone who knows which one it is.**


	81. Nerves

***pops out from the rock she's been hiding under*...Hey? Yeah, I really have no excuse on the timing and quality of this one, sorry guys ^^;. Written whilst listening to Slide and All That You Are by the Goo Goo to _TheSuperiorVision_, _TheLoveDov_ and _Corevil_ for reviewing, and thanks to _Lunar Radioactive_ for adding this story to their faves! Umm, yeah, I don't really have anything else to say, apart from a teensy question. Do any of you guys watch Primeval? And I'll leave you with that random question I guess. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus wasn't one to get nervous. Sure, he could be modest, stressed, Pit, if you ticked him off, he <em>could<em> get furious. But _never_ was he _nervous_. Until now. Arcee and Starlight had both pushed him into this, if he screwed up, he was blaming them. He stood pacing in his quarters, muttering under his breath.

"Oh, she's going to hate me. And if she hates me, Starlight will hate me. And if Starlight hates me, Twilight will hate me... _Again_..." He abruptly stopped, slapping himself lightly.

_'Snap out of it, mech! You can do this!'_ Nodding firmly, the second in command walked out of his quarters, head held high...

* * *

><p>...Only to start shaking it frantically when he reached his desired destination.<p>

_'You can't do this. You can't do this. Primus, **why** are you doing this?'_ All of a sudden, he remembered words that had been spoken to him not long ago.

_"You think too lowly of yourself. You have potential, Autobot. But you never acknowledge it."_ The words were reassuring in the most unlikely way, and they had been spoken by the most unlikely person, but they reassured him nonetheless. His hand hovered in the air, about to knock on the door in front of him, when all of a sudden it swung open.

"Hey, Magnus!" Starlight beamed up at him.

_'I swear, that youngling has a sixth sense or something.'_ Magnus smiled back down at the young femme.

"You wanna come in?" She offered, stepping back to allow him entrance.

"Thank you, Starlight." Blizzard looked up from the novel she was reading and smiled at the SIC.

"Evening, Ultra Magnus, Sir." Starlight smirked, waggling her optic ridges.

"I'll just... Go and get a shower or something."

_'Damn you, youngling.'_ Blizzard rose from where she was sat on her berth and cocked her head to the side, confused.

"Can I help you with something, Sir?" Magnus gulped. He had been put on the spot before, but that was always in battle.

"I... I was j-just wondering... S-since it's m-my day off... If you'd... Pit, I don't know... L-like to go for a drink or something?" Ultra Magnus couldn't be sure, but he could_ swear_ he heard Starlight giggle from where she'd hidden away in the wash racks. Blizzard's optics were wide, and he saw a faint blush appear on her face-plates.

"Umm... I-I'd love to, but what about Starlight?" The little femme's head popped out of the wash rack's doors, and she smiled.

"Don't worry momma, I'll go hang out with Jazz and Blaster or something, you go have a nice time!" Quick as a flash, Starlight shot out of her and her mother's quarters.

"Wait-" Ultra Magnus and Blizzard both called out to her, but she ran so fast that she was out the door before they'd even opened their mouths to speak. Looking at each-other, the two Autobots laughed nervously before quickly averting their optics. The SIC sighed when Blizzard made no move to accept or decline his offer.

"Umm, I'll- I'll just be going then, sorry for wasting your time, it was stupid of me to ask." Just as he made it to the door, a dainty hand closed around his wrist.

"Wait! I... I'd love to go out... With you." Did he just hear that right? Surely he didn't hear that right.

"C-Could you r-repeat that, please?" With a quiet, nervous giggle and a warm smile, the blue femme repeated her words.

"I said that I'd love to go out with you." He had heard right. Or were his audios deceiving him?

"Hold on, could you-" She laughed, cutting him off midsentence.

"_No_, I will not repeat it again, Ultra Magnus. You heard me right the first time." The blush that Magnus had been ignoring had now deepened, turning his white face-plates a crimson red colour.

"So..." He didn't trust his vocaliser enough to attempt to string together a coherent sentence. Another laugh from the femme, the sound was like that human invention called a 'wind chime'.

"_So_...?" She parroted in a questioning tone. Scratching the back of his head with embarrassment, he did as best he could not to fumble his words.

"So... I'll meet you at the base entrance at around half eight?" Blizzard nodded, positively beaming.

"Okay, I'll see you then, goodbye, Sir." Shaking his head with a small chuckle, Magnus held one of her smaller hands in both of his.

"Please, just call me Magnus."

"O-Okay. I'll see you later tonight then Si- Err, _Magnus_."

* * *

><p>And that's how Blizzard found herself in one of Cybertron's most expensive bars later on that night. Smiling to herself, she couldn't help but wonder whether that mischievous daughter of hers had played any part in this.<p>

Her drink with Ultra Magnus was going quite well, they managed to stray off of the topic of work, which the both of them were happy about. Casual questions about their pasts were being dished out here and there, but for the most part they just made idle chit-chat about nothing in particular.

Blizzard had been having a nice time until a waiter walked past and muttered something almost unintelligible into Magnus' audio. The Autobot femme couldn't be sure, but it looked like he had said: "Everything's set up for you, Sir." Apprehension coiled in Blizzard's tanks like a viper as she started to over-think things.

_'Oh Primus, he's going to make a fool out of me in front of all these people. Intentionally or not, he's going to make me look like an idiot. **How** can I get out of this? **Think**, femme, think!'_

"Blizzard? Are you okay?" She looked up from her lap, where she had been wringing her hands, and into the worried blue optics of Ultra Magnus.

"Hm? Oh, yes, yes, I'm fine." The second in command looked skeptical, but he pressed no further.

"Alright. Would you follow me?" The viper in her tanks twisted into itself even tighter, but she took his hand and allowed herself to be led up a barely noticeable set of spiralling stairs in the corner of the room.

* * *

><p>Once they'd reached the top of the stairs, they came face to face with an ornate-looking door that had intricate patterns engraved into it. Magnus urged Blizzard forward silently, gently pushing her towards the door.<p>

Gingerly, the femme wrapped a slightly trembling hand around the door handle and twisted it. Pushing the door forward, she gaped in a most unladylike way at the scene her optics were met with.

A beautiful balcony was presented before them, with a perfect view of the city below, and neighbouring cities and towns. The balcony itself was simple in nature, but that made it all the more amazing in Blizzard's optics.

"Do you like it?" Magnus asked after a moment's silence. His voice made her jump slightly, for a minute she'd forgotten he was there.

"Yes... I love it. What possessed you to do this?" He shuffled nervously under her curious gaze before finally speaking up.

"...Starlight told me you didn't like being made a show of in front of people, so I rented this out." Guilt overcame her spark for a split second, she hoped it hadn't been expensive. Just when she thought she'd rid herself of it, that apprehensive viper coiled into a tight knot in her tanks once more when she realised something.

"What are you about to do that would've made a show of me if you'd done it downstairs?" It suddenly went deathly quiet. She heard no answer from Magnus, nor did she push for one.

Whilst she looked as patient and calm as ever on the outside, and was trying desperately to seem the same on the inside, that viper was writhing around and twisting itself into all sorts of uncomfortable shapes as her anxiety grew.

Finally, he spoke... But the words were such a fumbled mess of incoherent mumbles that Blizzard didn't understand a word of what he said. The blue femme let out a half amused, half wary giggle.

"Could you repeat that please?" He huffed as she used his words from their conversation earlier in the day.

"I said..."

"You said?"

"I said... I..."

"Oh for crying out loud Magnus spit it out!" She laughed, sounding rather like Twilight. Apparently, Magnus thought that blurting out what he was about to say would be a more efficient way of saying it. So that's what he did.

"I said I love you!" Needless to say, that was not what Blizzard had been expecting. She flinched away from the SIC in front of her, and he inwardly winced.

_'Oh, this was a **bad** idea...'_

"You... You what?" When he didn't answer, she wasn't inclined to be as patient as she was before.

"You _what_?" He recoiled slightly, surprised at how snappish she was being. He'd never seen the femme so angry. In fact, he'd never seen her angry at all.

"I said... I love you. And I'm being honest, I-"

"Well, that's a relief."

"What?" She had that familiar warm smile on her face-plates as she took one of Magnus' hands in both her own.

"I said, that's a relief, because... I love you too." The look on Ultra Magnus' face made Blizzard wish she'd brought a camera.

"You... You _what_?"

"I think you heard right the first time." She said with a giggle. Without a second thought, Ultra Magnus picked up the femme, spun her around, and then kissed her lovingly. Blizzard's pink optics widened and then shuttered in one fluid movement.

"Also," He started speaking again after breaking off the kiss, "I got you this." He pulled a red rose out of his subspace. It was giant by human standards, it was a perfectly Cybertronian-sized flower. Blizzard stared at the gift with awe and wonder. As she stared into the petals' dark red depths, she realised that her life had just taken a huge turn, for the better.

Not too long ago, she had thought that she and Starlight would have no future. Well, things were certainly looking up now.

* * *

><p><strong>Yupp, some crappy cheese to finish off right there, as usual!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any of the characters I use in this story other than Blizzard, Starlight and Twilight.**


	82. Medic

***Brushes dust off of cover of story*...Hey? Sorry, there was a bit of a wait for this chapter, and I'm not really happy with it. The only reason for the wait is that Lord of the Rings and The Inheritance Cycle have taken over my life, I've had two GCSE maths tests and I got Cs in them both, and I'm going on holiday at the start of Summer holidays, and I have a load of stuff to do before I leave (I leave on the 20th). Aaaaanyway, huge thanks to ****_TheSuperiorVision_****, ****_Corevil_****, ****_TheLoveDov_**** and ****_Screamer's girl_**** for reviewing, and also a big thank you to ****_Teh Wrath_**** for adding this story to their alert list and faves list, ****_and_**** to****_ i love tfg1 tracks_**** for faving the story! Thanks so much you guys! Written whilst listening to How to Save a Life by The Fray and Wires by Athlete. Well, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Mother?" Twilight turned to Ravenstrike when he addressed her, and found him perched on the window-ledge, looking at her in curiosity.<p>

"Yes, Raven?" She smiled, leaving her desk and the half-written report that lay on it. Cyclonus looked up from his report as well, wondering what the youngling could _possibly_ be wondering about _now_. It seemed to Cyclonus that all his son ever did was ask questions. What _didn't_ he know?

"What exactly are we all fighting for?" The question came as a shock to both his parents, Ravenstrike could tell. Twilight sighed, leaning heavily against the window-ledge, as if all her strength had been drained upon hearing those seven words. Cyclonus stood then, joining his family.

Shocked as they were, they knew that their sparkling was bound to ask that question at some point in his life. They simply hadn't expected him to have asked so early on. Twilight spoke up then, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"...I don't know, little one." Giving him a weary smile, she took his hand and continued,

"I don't think anybody does anymore." Cyclonus shot her look from narrowed optics. She sent one straight back, her gaze just as even.

"This war's been going on for so long... The only reason to continue is, I guess, because there's no reason to stop. Just like there was no reason to start..." She added the last part as an afterthought, but she was sure her sparkmate had still heard her. Cyclonus wrapped an arm around her waist, and she sighed.

"I used to think that war was exhilarating, a real adrenaline rush. Back then I didn't have much left to live for. The rush is still there, but now, I have too much to lose." She smiled and picked up her son, holding him close. When it became obvious that she wasn't planning on saying any more, Cyclonus added,

"We fight to stay alive. Whilst the Autobots still exist, the energon resources throughout the galaxies will continue dwindling at a faster rate. If the Autobots were destroyed, the Decepticons would have all the energon they needed, and the resources to harvest more without worrying about Autobots stealing it." Cutting him a look, Twilight warned him through their bond.

_**~I will not shield our son from the truth. He deserves to know what the real aim of the Decepticon cause is.~**_ Sighing, Cyclonus did not reply.

"I don't like seeing people hurt." The two officers looked down at their son in surprise.

He had flown out of his mother's embrace and gone to stand on the window-ledge, staring out of the window with his bright crimson optics, so very like his mother's. Turning to face his creators, face-plates utterly serious, the youngling spoke with much conviction,

"I want to be a medic."

* * *

><p>"Mom, where are we going?" Twilight didn't answer Ravenstrike's question, and he tugged on her hand in an attempt to regain her attention.<p>

"_Mom_, _where_ are we _going_?" He pushed and pushed, but she still did not answer. Soon enough, however, his question was answered for him as they were met with the doors of the med bay.

"Why are we at the med bay?" Once again, the youngling was ignored.

Hook was there to greet them, busy sorting out various tools and equipment. Without looking up from his work, he picked up a scalpel and pointed at the two.

"_Rumble_, I swear to Primus if you-"

"_Relax_, Dr. Doom, it's just us."

"...Oh." Hook scratched the back of his head sheepishly, placing the scalpel back into the assorted row.

"What can I help you with?" He asked with a small smile.

"Why don't you tell Hook yourself, Raven?" The little mech went shy, and hovered behind his mother's shoulder. Hook started to look a little worried, and he wondered what could possibly be wrong with the youngling, he looked right as rain. But, as a medic - and a Decepticon - the Constructicon knew that appearances were hardly ever as they seemed.

"Mom, why are you making me do this?" Twilight rolled her optics with a smile.

"Just tell him! Stop being a wuss!" Sighing, Ravenstrike made optic contact with Hook - or, at least, he _thought_ he did, but he didn't know for sure because of the visor the mech always wore.

"What's the matter, little guy?"

"I... I want to be a medic when I'm older." Hook looked to Twilight, then back to the little mech in front of him, and then back to Twilight.

"...Did... Did you tell him to say that?" With a crooked grin, Twilight shook her head.

"He came out with it this morning." After a moment's silence passed, the femme spoke up again.

"...I was wondering if you could teach him?" Hook gave her an unreadable look.

"Raven, you know the way back to our quarters, don't you?" Rolling his optics and folding his arms across his chest-plates, Ravenstrike said,

"Mom, I'm not a three year-old. Of _course_ I know the way." Giggling, Twilight replied,

"Of_ course_ you do, sorry I ever doubted you. Off you go then, I'll catch up with you in a moment." He opened his mouth to ask a question, and then decided not to bother, as she probably wouldn't answer. Once the little mech was out of earshot, Twilight spoke up before Hook could get a word in.

"Please, Hook. Teach him. He already thinks the world of you, and he'd be learning from the best."

"You have medical training, why can't you teach him?" Rolling her optics, Twilight let out short laugh.

"I have training in little more than the basics. My skills are a joke compared to the feats you can accomplish with yours. You've saved my life so many times that I've lost count, Hook. I want him to learn from _you_. Please, take him on as your apprentice."

There was an awkward pause in the room, and Twilight did not make an attempt to fill it. She knew that Hook was at least contemplating the idea. She also knew _why_ he had to contemplate it in the first place. He didn't want to risk getting close to a sparkling again when there was a chance he could lose him.

"You know that Cyclonus and I would give our lives to defend him."

"That does not guarantee his safety."

"Face it, Hook, _nothing_ will. Not while this war continues." Another silence. This time, Twilight broke it immediately.

"Hook, am I going to have to use the cyber-puppy optics?" He laughed... And then shook his head.

"No... I'll train him. I'll train your son to become a medic."

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, bit of a sloppy ending, but... Mehh, I don't know what to say really.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters used in this story other than Twilight and Ravenstrike.**

**P.S. I aim to have this story finished by the time I go on holiday, so I'm sad to say that War Machine is almost finished D'X. There's about five or so chapters left. Makes me quite emotional X'D.**


	83. Optimus

**Uhh, okay, so it turns out that there's no way I'm going to have this finished by Friday. So, you're stuck with me and this story for a little while longer! Don't all cheer at once XD! Thank you to _TheSuperiorVision_ and _Corevil_ for reviewing, and thanks to_ TheLoveDov_, _ninjafighter2313_ and_ UltraMagnusFanGirl_ for adding me/this story to their author/story alert lists! Written whilst listening to That Golden Rule and Many of Horror by Biffy Clyro. Not sure whether I'm happy with this chapter, but I've said that for like, the past five chapters, so yeah, ignore me if you want. Hope you enjoy anyway!**

* * *

><p>"Ugh! I'm sick of this!" Twilight growled, pacing in circles like a rabid cyber-dog inside her quarters. Ravenstrike was watching her with amusement. Once again, Cyclonus had been sent off on a mission without them. What's worse, Soundwave and the cassettes had gone with him, as well as Galvatron, which left Twilight in charge of the disorganised mess that was the Decepticon army.<p>

Ravenstrike laughed as his mother sat down for a moment before growling irritably and resuming her pacing. The youngling knew that Twilight thought that she was being left behind all the time because Galvatron believed that she was less of a warrior after bearing a sparkling. That was far from the truth, however, and Raven knew that, in the back of her mind, Twilight knew that.

Walking over to him abruptly, the black and red femme took her creation's hand and began to lead him out of their quarters.

"Mom, where are you taking me _now_?" They'd already done three laps of the base, an hour of patrol duty and two hours of monitor duty, what could _possibly_ need tending to now? Ravenstrike was young, and he didn't understand half of the things his parents spoke about, or how tiring their jobs could be.

He knew how important they were to the Decepticon cause, however, and tried very hard to refrain from being a hindrance whenever they had urgent matters to attend to.

"We're going sparring." _That_ put a smile on the youngling's face.

* * *

><p>A sudden strain on her bond with Cyclonus shocked Twilight into stumbling backward a few steps, and her - blunted - claw blades missed their target. Ravenstrike felt the same strain on his bond with his father, and he tripped forward, catching his mother on the cheek-plate with the very tip of one of his blades.<p>

"Ah! Sorry Mom!" Twilight didn't reply, she had fallen flat on her aft and was still trying to get over the pain she was feeling from over her strained bond with her sparkmate. Ravenstrike had been quick to numb his end of the bond, before his father's rage incapacitated him, so he wasn't having the same struggle his femme creator was.

"Mom? What's happening to Dad?" With a shake of her head, Twilight looked up at her worried son who was hovering over her with a look of utter concern.

"I... Don't know, Raven. But he's... He's_ furious_. It's actually painful." Twilight numbed her end of the bond and sighed with relief as the pain gradually ebbed away. Both the Decepticon femme and her creation looked up to the sky as they felt the familiar jumble of energy signatures that consisted of the team that were sent out on a mission.

Galvatron came into view shortly after the two had sensed him, along with the other members of the team. To their horror, however, everyone was bathed in a harsh red glow, and they were firing at Galvatron. The Sweeps passed overhead, and Galvatron narrowly dodged a blast from Cyclonus - yes, _Cyclonus_ - before meeting up with Twilight and her youngling.

"Galvatron, sire, what the _frag_ is going on?" The femme couldn't care less about the tone she was addressing her leader with, and she could tell that he couldn't, either.

"They've all been infected by some sort of madness plague!" Galvatron yelled with a wide sweep of his arm, indicating to the glowing Decepticons.

"Slag!" Twilight muttered as she and Ravenstrike flipped out the way of a stray blast. Quickly sharpening her claw blades again, as well as fixing up Ravenstrike's, Twilight assumed a defensive stance and let her battle routines kick in. Her visor and mask soundlessly slid into place, and she was ready to attack when Galvatron grabbed her by the wrist.

"You can't touch them, Twilight! The slightest tap will make you become infected!" _Now_ she understood why Galvatron had been fleeing so hastily. Sighing, Twilight ran for the cover of a large boulder - their abundance being the only helpful aspect of Chaar's barren landscape - and slipped into a crouch, making sure Ravenstrike was safely behind her and Galvatron wasn't far behind.

Just when she became confident that she, her sparkling and her leader could escape quite easily through the maze of underground tunnels, she heard engines - and then footsteps, adding to the racket.

_'Autobots? Now? **Really**?'_ She felt like screaming out in frustration, the fact that her sparkling was worried enough as it is being the only thing that stopped her.

"Galvatron? Can you hear me? This is Optimus Prime!" Twilight's breath hitched in her throat. Optimus Prime... Was _online_?

* * *

><p>After the usual Autobot-Decepticon exchange of pleasantries, Optimus Prime - Twilight <em>still<em> couldn't believe he was _actually_ online - and Galvatron agreed to join forces until the madness plague was cured. The three Decepticons and their temporary allies all fled into the underground network of tunnels that spider-webbed throughout Chaar, a quick blast from Galvatron's cannon sealing the entrance. There was no turning back now, for either party.

* * *

><p>It turned out that the Autobots had traveled to Chaar because they were in need of the alloy that the Terrorcons had stolen earlier that day. Galvatron seemed a little <em>too<em> happy to comply with their demands, and Twilight couldn't help but wonder what tricks the insane mech had hidden in his cannon.

"Forgive me for being so blunt, ma'am, but who exactly are you?" Twilight turned in surprise to see Optimus Prime staring at her with curious optics.

"The name's Twilight, and I'm no ma'am, sir, I can assure you."

"If you insist upon refusing to let me call you ma'am, then I must refuse the same. I am no 'sir' to you." With a bark-like laugh that seemed to catch in the back of her throat, Twilight looked down at her feet and smiled sarcastically.

"How gentlemechly of you." Optimus continued to ask her questions, and Ravenstrike, worn out from all of the traveling as well as the shock of his father being infected by a seemingly incurable plague, perched on her shoulder.

"I was not aware of any femmes that had allied themselves with the Decepticons."

"I was running the spy movement situated in Iacon."

"Surely you were not working alone?" With a scoff, Twilight rolled her optics.

"Of course not. There were four mechs under my command, they're all offline now though. I suggest that if you wish to know any more about me, you speak with Ultra Magnus after this escapade is over."

There was respect - and a fraction of admiration - hidden in the deep crimson pools that were Twilight's optics, but she knew she couldn't afford to become acquaintances with any more Autobots, especially not one as important as Optimus. So she broke away from him, and, in doing so, showed that she wasn't willing to answer any more questions about herself.

The ragtag group of Cybertronians - and, upon closer inspection, Twilight found, one human - soon came across a large web that filled a gap in the tunnel floor.

"Tread with caution," Twilight warned, "If this web isn't fresh it could crumble at any moment." Everybody carefully took a step forward, Ravenstrike flying straight over to the other side to avoid the danger that was surely lurking nearby.

His suspicions were correct, and a huge spider, native to the network of tunnels underneath Chaar, soon charged at the Autobots and Decepticons alike as it left the cover of a hidden crevice.

"Look out!" The youngling yelled, but only Galvatron, Twilight, Optimus Prime and the human - whose name was apparently Jessica - had the time to heed his warning. The giant web began to crumble, and the Decepticons took to the air.

Ravenstrike watched in horror as the unstable ground gave way beneath the elderly Autobot Kup's feet. He would have fallen into the shadows below if Twilight and the speedy Autobot Blurr hadn't grabbed him by the arms and halted his fall.

Pulling Kup back onto the webbing, Twilight huffed, rolling her shoulders. She was about to turn away to deal with the spider when Kup called out to her.

"Guess I owe ya one for that, kid." Half-turning with an indifferent expression, she shrugged.

"Hmph, you've got to respect your elders, I guess." And with that, she was gone, claw blades deployed, ready to strike at the spider. The monstrous insect, however, had already wrapped it's disgusting tongue around an Autobot who went by the name of Goldbug.

Twilight was thrown off for a moment as she realised how similar this scenario was to the incident on Drax. Shaking her head to clear it of those thoughts, she nimbly leaped onto the spider's back.

"Raven!" She called to her sparkling, who understood what her intentions were when she sent him a jumble of her thoughts through their bond. The young Decepticon rushed forward, unsheathing a lone set of three deadly claw blades. The tips of the blades receded, and a purple glow emanated from the holes that were created.

Three narrow blasts sliced through the spider's tongue, and, at the same time, Twilight drove her claw blades into one of the insect's eyes. Dropping down to fetch the Autobot from where he precariously hung from the web as the spider fell into the dark depths of the tunnel, Twilight let out a sigh.

She growled when she heard the golden Autobot she had just saved mutter: "Whaddaya know, a _Decepticon_ with a conscience." but she made no move to strike him down, as she knew she would have a good few years ago.

"I'm getting _way_ too old for this."

* * *

><p>After a brief incident with a horde of energy leeches, and after losing the Autobots - save Optimus Prime and a mech named Sky Lynx - to the hate plague when the infected Decepticons caught up with them, Twilight, Ravenstrike, Galvatron, Jessica, Sky Lynx and Optimus finally reached the alloy. The weak-minded human let her tongue slip, and the Decepticons learned of Optimus' plan.<p>

"So, you plan to coat yourself with the alloy to make yourself impervious to the plague! Well, I have need of you no longer, so much for your resurrection, Optimus Prime!" Any words that the Prime might have countered with were lost as Cyclonus jumped out from behind a mound of spare parts and promptly infected the human girl, Jessica Morgan.

Twilight staggered back as if she had been dealt a physical blow. Ravenstrike hurried to hide behind his mother and both Decepticons deployed their claw blades. Cyclonus met his sparkmate's gaze for a moment, and something seemed to change in his optics before he scowled again. Galvatron transformed and shot at his second, despite Twilight's protests. The blast missed by a margin, however, and left Galvatron vulnerable.

The Decepticon SIC infected the purple warlord, and Twilight sighed. There was nothing left of the Decepticons now apart from her and her son. Optimus placed a hand on her shoulder, it seemed he had guessed the reason for Twilight's torn expression.

"We must leave, Twilight."

"I... Understand." Before they got free of the piles and piles of rubble and scrap, Twilight halted abruptly and turned to face the glowing beings.

"You go. I'll hold them off for as long as I can." She wasn't sure because of his mask, but she could see from his optics that Optimus sent her an incredulous look.

"_How_ do you intend to do that? They will not listen to reason, and you cannot make contact with them!"

"Listen to me, Prime, I have got myself out of more pressing situations than this." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it was twisting the truth at it's best.

"I'll provide as convincing a distraction as I can, and try to lead them away from you. Now go! And take Ravenstrike with you!" Raven looked terrified enough as it was, and his mother wasn't helping.

"I'm not leaving you, Mom!" She sent him her famous I'm-not-taking-any-slag-from-you look.

"_Yes_, you are, now go! _Hurry_!" Optimus' hand fell onto her shoulder once again.

"I will not forget this, Twilight." She shrugged him off, mask and visor sliding back onto her face-plates.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say! Now get going!" As Optimus, Sky Lynx and her son retraced their steps to reach the surface, Twilight faced the group of insane Decepticons, who were all just as likely to shoot at each-other as they were to shoot at her. She could only beg to Primus that her cunning and experience would let her escape unscathed once more.

* * *

><p>Optimus Prime, Twilight decided, was the reincarnation of Primus himself. How the Autobot leader had managed to do it, Twilight had no clue - other than the fact he had had assistance from the Matrix of Leadership - but he had done it. Against all odds, he had cured the hate plague.<p>

"Twilight?" She jumped to her feet at the sound of that voice, and flung herself into her sparkmate's open arms.

"I'm so fragging glad you're okay." He whispered, and in response, she opened up their bond once more.

"Dad! You're alright!" Ravenstrike tackled his father to the floor, and Cyclonus chuckled.

"How are you?" He asked, ruffling his son's nonexistent hair.

"I'm good now that you're okay." Smiling, Cyclonus wrapped an arm around Twilight's waist.

"Commander Twilight, I am indebted to you for your brave sacrifice." It was Optimus Prime.

"No, Prime, you are not. You kept my sparkling safe after I shoved him into your care, and for that, I am most grateful. And please, do not call me Commander. I gave up that title long ago." The Prime's optics seemed to sparkle with the hint of a smile.

"It was my pleasure. I cannot remember when I last saw a sparkling. I assume you are the mech creator?" He turned to Cyclonus. The SIC nodded, quite protectively, Twilight noticed. She was about to let out a giggle when Galvatron walked over, and even Ravenstrike had to admit that this was one of the most serious moments in Cybertronian history.

They heard Rodimus Prime - who was now known as Hot Rod again - say: "Does this mean the fighting will continue?" Surprising everyone, Galvatron - in one of his sanest frames of mind - held out his hand and shook his head.

"There will be no fighting today, Optimus Prime. You have earned Galvatron's respect." All was silent for a moment. Everyone present watched as Optimus accepted the Decepticon warlord's outstretched hand and shook it. Ravenstrike broke the silence by whooping with joy. Everyone - even Galvatron - laughed.

"Does this mean that the war's over?" The youngling asked his mother in a quiet voice. She hesitated, and then shrugged.

"I can't say for sure, but something tells me there won't be any battles for quite some time. Now you can pursue your career as a medic." Cyclonus smiled, and then added:

"_Now_ he can work on his landing technique." The small family laughed like none had ever laughed before, and they let their joy consume them for a while. Maybe, just maybe, things were looking up now.

* * *

><p><strong>I did some editing, and I realised that I actually only have two more chapters left until this story comes to an end! ='( I'm actually getting pretty emotional.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, nor do I own any of the characters that I use in this story apart from Twilight and Ravenstrike.**

**P.S. - The stuff that I've edited out of the main story was just filler, I have added it to my list of one-shots based around this story, so do not fear, you're not missing anything ={D!**

**P.S.S - This is my last update for a while, as I'm going to Tenerife on Friday. As usual, I'll update my profile with the dates and all that jazz. Hope everyone has a nice holiday! (And if you don't break up the same time as me, hope you have/did have a nice holiday anyway! And if you don't have a summer holiday, then it sucks to be you! Nahh, just kidding, have a nice day or summin like that!) (I'm tired, leave me alone). Xx**


	84. Promise

**So I'm back from Tenerife! I'm very happy to say that this chapter actually flowed quite well compared to the last few =D. Thanks to ****_TheSuperiorVision_****, ****_Corevil _****and ****_TheLoveDov_**** for reviewing! And a huge thanks to ****_E. H. Sparkwoman _****for reviewing, and adding this story to their faves list and alert list! This was written whilst listening to the Troy soundtrack (it doesn't really fit the mood of this chapter much until maybe the very end but I can't stop listening to it so yeah.) Right, hope you enjoy the chapter then!**

**Also, I just wanted to point out that the last chapter, ****_Optimus_****, was actually based on the episode called The Return of Optimus Prime (Part 2 more so than Part 1), as I forgot to say that in 83's A/N.**

* * *

><p>A certain black and red Decepticon femme sat slumped in a chair around a long table in an Autobot conference room on Cybertron. It had been a long day so far, and it had yet to end. She had been stuck in peace conferences and negotiations since the early hours of the morning, and she wanted nothing more than to go back home and spend some time with her bondmate and their sparkling.<p>

But no, there were still treaties that needed to be signed, territories that needed to be negotiated, time that needed wasting. Of course, Galvatron's pride was wounded so severely after the surrender of the Decepticons that he had not seen fit to attend these meetings himself, sending Twilight in his stead.

Looking at the human clock mounted on the wall, Twilight realised that she had the better part of an hour to wait before the next conference started. Not enough time for her to visit home, but enough for a little wander around the Autobot base.

Optimus Prime had been - at least, in the femme's opinion - a little _too_ trustworthy in giving her the freedom to walk around the base, but she had given him her word that she would not enter forbidden areas, and she did not intend to go back on it.

The corridors were a little busier than Twilight had hoped for, to her annoyance. It didn't help lift her mood that she always had to watch her feet for the humans that were scurrying about the place like little cyber-rats. And no matter where she went there were _always_ people _staring_! Humans would look at her in fear or what even looked like awe, some in anger.

The Autobots settled for either glaring at her in disgust and fury or merely nodding respectfully, the will to fight having left them just as it had left Twilight. The latter was how she would usually respond to their stares, no matter how hateful.

Of course, there were still those sorry few who looked at her with something _else_ in their optics, and when _that_ happened Twilight was extra wary to make _sure_ that Cyclonus couldn't see what she could see through their bond. Well, wouldn't want him to start a war, now would she?

Twilight had always prided herself in being aware of her surroundings, she was almost impossible to catch off guard. That was why she was extremely shocked - and, a little hostile - when she was, well, caught off guard in a fairly empty corridor. The hostility soon faded into happiness when she saw a pair of bright purple optics looking straight into her own.

"Starlight!" The little femme had grown since Twilight had last seen her. Starlight wrapped her arms around the black and red femme's neck, and said femme returned the embrace. The two heard laughter from across the corridor, and Twilight turned to face Blizzard and Ultra Magnus. Setting the youngling back on her feet, Twilight met Blizzard halfway and hugged her.

"It's good to see you, my friend." Blizzard smiled, holding the other femme at arm's length.

"It's been too long." Twilight was sure the blue femme had a lot to say, but why she wasn't saying it was beyond her. The Decepticon then turned to Ultra Magnus, and hugged him quickly.

"It's good to see you too, Brother." He returned the gesture, and then grew a little more serious. Before he could speak, however, Twilight smiled and cut him off.

"I see you have both found happiness." When they gave her startled, confused looks, she raised a single optic ridge and smirked.

"Please, don't think I don't know a pair of lovers when I see one. I'm happy for you both." They both smiled, quite sheepishly, the ex-spy thought. That was when she noticed something rather odd.

"Hold on a moment..." Her optics widened abruptly as she double-checked their surroundings, finding them to be quite alone.

"Are you _carrying_?" The shocked looks - combined with the blushes that appeared after - told her all she needed to know.

"How did you know?"

"There's an energy signature in the corridor that's so faint it's practically non-existent, I remember a similar signature from when I was carrying Ravenstrike."

"O-Oh." Was all Magnus could reply with. Blizzard was silent, still dumbstruck.

"Way to ruin the surprise, Twilight!" Starlight huffed with mock frustration. The Decepticon femme laughed.

"Sorry about that, little one." Blizzard smiled, and then, with identical looks of absolute seriousness, the mother and daughter made to leave, saying only: "We'll leave you two to it then." Before walking off, around the corner.

"Magnus? What's going on?" The Autobot sighed, hesitating.

"We got a transmission yesterday, from... Cyclonus."

"Just you or the Autobots in general?" Twilight was confused. She didn't like being kept in the dark, why hadn't Cyclonus told her about this?

"Just the three of us."

"And you're _sure_ it was Cyclonus?"

"It was a video call, Twilight, and I would have known if someone was trying to impersonate him." Leaning against the wall for support, the Decepticon looked down at the floor uncomprehendingly. Had Galvatron had enough of peace already?

Was he about to attack in secret, causing all these conferences to have been for nothing? The same question kept circling around in her mind: Why the frag hadn't she been told anything? Looking back up at Magnus, she blinked, once, twice, three times, and then found her voice again.

"What... What did he say?" To her surprise, the Autobot SIC shook his head.

"I can't tell you, he practically begged me not to." Twilight frowned, resuming her stare-down with the grey floor tiles. She wanted to ask more questions, to shout at her 'brother' and_demand_ to know what was going on, but all that came out of her vocaliser was:

"Why?" Sighing, Ultra Magnus placed a hand on the femme's shoulder.

"I cannot say. I can only assume that he wants to tell you himself. But please, do not ask him about it. Let him bring it up when he wants to, promise me that."

"I... I promise." The bulky mech nodded.

"Thank you, Sister. Now go. Get some rest. You have your last conference in around an hour, and it's sure to drag." He smiled, and she barely managed a small smile back.

What in the _Pit_ was going on?

* * *

><p><strong>Ooh... Anybody like to have a guess? I'll try not to leave you hanging for too long.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story apart from Twilight, Ravenstrike, Starlight and Blizzard.**


	85. Finale

**So this is it! The finale! I'm actually really emotional, it's quite ridiculous XD. Thank you to ****_Corevil_****, ****_TheLoveDov_**** and ****_TheSuperiorVision_**** for reviewing! You know how I said that I was gonna try and listen to songs that reflected the mood of the chapter? Yeah, that didn't happen XD. This was written whilst listening to Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace, Monster by Skillet, Bite My Tongue by You Me At Six, Bring Me To Life by Evanescence and War Machine by AC/DC as well as the Primeval soundtrack and the Professor Layton soundtrack(s). (I don't care if you don't like Primeval and/or Professor Layton, the soundtracks are awesome so you should go and listen to them. Now.) Well, this is it! I really hope you enjoy =D!**

* * *

><p>Twilight stormed through the halls of the Decepticon base, a frown set firmly on her bone-white face-plates. The hallways were practically empty, and any and all Decepticons that were wandering around bolted down the nearest corridor at the sight of the femme.<p>

She soon reached her destination: the control room. Barely managing to rein herself in long enough to not kick down the door, she entered the room and looked around frantically. Scourge and Astrotrain were there, but other than that, the room was empty.

The two mechs stood to attention, apparently expecting it to be Galvatron. What they saw instead frightened them even more. Twilight was positively _fuming_. For once, _Scourge_ was the one who had the ball bearings to talk to her.

"H-Hey, Twilight, what-"

"Where is he?" When she didn't get an answer, she continued. "Cyclonus, I mean. In fact, I'd quite like to know where my son is too. So?" Astrotrain's frame was rattling audibly, violently. He looked like a turbo-rat that had been cornered by a group of cyber-cats. Scourge winced, taking a wary step backward, hiding behind a chair.

"...Have you checked your quarters?" She rolled her optics and let out a harsh laugh.

"Do you think I'm an idiot, Scourge?"

"What?"

"Do you _think_ I'm an _idiot_?"

"No, why-"

"Then don't insult me by asking such_ stupid_ questions. Now, where in the Pit are my sparkmate and sparkling?" The two mechs exchanged worried glances.

"To be honest with you, Twilight,"

"Yes, it'd be helpful if you were honest." She muttered darkly under her breath.

"-We don't know where he is. He left around three hours ago, he didn't tell anyone where he was headed." Twilight looked down at the floor for a moment, shielding her optics from sight as her optic ridges knitted together in a worried frown.

"What about Ravenstrike?" Panic was seeping into her tone slightly now, she did her best to dispel it. Astrotrain shook his head.

"He left alone. The little fella is still on base somewhere." That calmed her spark's erratic pulsing a little.

"And Galvatron? If he's as sane as he seems to be now, he wouldn't let his second just fly off without any notice."

_'Yes, and if you were as good of a sparkmate as you're supposed to be, you would have noticed that Cyclonus was up to something.'_ Her spirits deflated, she knew that she was right.

"Galvatron's in his quarters doing Primus knows what, he doesn't even know Cyc left." Now something was _definitely_ wrong. If Cyclonus hadn't told _Galvatron_ where he was going, then something was most _definitely_ up. Without another word, Twilight withdrew deep into her spark, becoming deathly silent.

She prodded and poked at her bond with Cyclonus, which she realised was blocked, and probably had been for some time. Luckily, her mate seemed to be distracted by something, so she was able to slip into his memories, find what she needed, and then slip back out unnoticed.

Shooting upright so fiercely that she knocked over the chair she didn't even realise she had collapsed into, she ran over to Scourge and Astrotrain and grabbed them both by the shoulder.

"I'm trusting you two not to let it slip to Galvatron that myself and Cyclonus are gone. I have no idea when I'll return, but I'll try and get back as quickly as possible."

"Where are you going? Do you know where Cyc is?" She said nothing, she only gave them both a smile before dashing out of the control room. Now she needed to find her son.

* * *

><p>Thankfully, Ravenstrike wasn't hard to find. He hadn't closed off his bond so Twilight could feel his presence as strongly as ever. He was with Soundwave, as the femme had expected. Rushing through the corridors as quickly as she could, she bypassed her own quarters and walked over to the door that led to Soundwave's instead.<p>

Before she could even knock, however, Soundwave opened the door and let her enter. Twilight didn't question him, she knew Ravenstrike had probably alerted him to her arrival, or he had sensed her himself. Grabbing Ravenstrike's wrist, she pulled him off the berth and held him tightly.

"Mom, what is going on? I can't get in contact with Dad and he just left me here!"

"I think I know where he is, but I have no idea what he's doing. You're just going to have to trust me on this, Raven." The youngling frowned for a moment before nodding, a look of determination on his face-plates.

Twilight turned to Soundwave, and found that the majority of the Cassetticons were staring at her as well as him.

"Listen, I-" She was interrupted by the sound of Soundwave's mask clicking back.

"You do not need to explain yourself to me, Sister. Go while you still can." She looked at him oddly for a second before her face-plates broke out into a small smile.

"Thank you, Brother." With a wave goodbye to Soundwave, Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak, Twilight and Ravenstrike were gone.

* * *

><p>Whilst the two were running through the endless maze of corridors, Ravenstrike adopted a familiar look on his face-plates, one that meant he wanted answers.<p>

"Mom, what in the Pit is happening?" Raising an optic ridge, Twilight cut her son a look.

"I am going to pretend that you did _not_ just curse at me." Rolling his optics, the youngling scoffed.

"Oh _please_, you and dad are bad influences! You two curse often enough!" Despite wanting to reprimand her sparkling for his attitude, the femme couldn't help but laugh. He was right, after all. As he always was.

"Seriously though Mom, _what_ is going on?"

"You'll find out soon enough, right now we've got to focus on getting off Chaar without being noticed."

"Sounds simple enou- Wait _WHAT_?"

* * *

><p>Well, once again, Ravenstrike had been right. Leaving Chaar unnoticed had been as simple and easy as stealing energon sweets from a sparkling – which, after using the expression, Twilight had to convince her child that she had never done.<p>

"Mom, I don't even recognise this sector of space. Where are we?"

"We're close to your father." The little mech huffed for the umpteenth time since they'd left base.

"Mom, I am_ begging_ you, for once, just give me a straight _answer_!"

"You won't need one when we find your father, so stop your complaining!" She growled in jest.

"Hmph,_ fine_." When his femme-creator wasn't looking, Ravenstrike stuck his glossa out at her.

Suddenly, after seeing nothing but miles and miles of boring space, a planet became visible in the distance.

"Is that where Dad is?"

"Raven, I love you to pieces, but do you _ever_ stop asking questions?" The young Decepticon laughed.

"Nope!"

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before they landed on the planet, right next to a crystal clear pool of water. Ravenstrike gave his mother an odd, confused look, placing a hand over his spark.<p>

"I feel like I've been here before, but I know I haven't. What_ is_ this place?" It took Twilight a moment to break out of her reverie and bring her optics down from the all-too familiar green sky.

"This place, Ravenstrike, is Thellion." The little one's optics widened to a comical size.

"You mean… This is the place where you and Dad bonded? Whoa..." Twilight nodded, smiling fondly at the mention of the last time she had set foot on this perfect little safe haven. It was then that Ravenstrike noticed a figure on the horizon, stood still, head turned up to the sky.

"Mom, look! There's Dad!" Twilight followed her creation's gaze. It seemed that once again, the little fella had been right on the money. To her surprise, the femme's bond with her sparkmate suddenly opened up again and Cyclonus turned towards them. Ravenstrike made to run to his mech-creator, but Twilight stilled him, placing a hand on his shoulder. When the mech looked up at her in confusion, she simply shook her head.

It didn't take Cyclonus long to clear the distance between him and his family, and when he did, a long silence followed. One that Twilight felt the need to break.

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice us. We had the perfect chance to sneak up on you." She giggled slightly before her serious attitude returned. She opened her mouth to speak again but Ravenstrike got there first.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"Yes, please tell us, he's asked that question a _million_ times today." Twilight sighed, rolling her optics in mock annoyance. Cyclonus couldn't help but chuckle despite the fact that he was dreading having to answer that question.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you, or you wouldn't believe me. I'll have to show you." Ravenstrike let out a sigh of frustration.

"You're kidding, right?"

* * *

><p>After navigating their way through a complicated network of tunnels, they finally reached their destination: the planet's core. Twilight raised an optic ridge as she noticed that Thellion's core was a large pool of water, not unlike the healing spring on the surface of the planet.<p>

"Cyclonus, what are we doing down here?" Her sparkmate didn't answer, he simply gestured to the spring, so Twilight cautiously made her way to the water's edge and peered into its clear depths.

"Cyclonus, there's nothing in he-"

_"Sister?"_

_"S-Sis?"_ Twilight violently recoiled from the pool, legs shaking furiously. She shook her head once, twice, three times.

"W-What in the Pit is going on here? Cyclonus… It's not… They're not… _Are_ they?..." She heard that familiar laugh, and forced herself to look back into the pool.

"Thundercracker? Skywarp?" The translucent red, blue and white Seeker nodded.

_"It's us, Sister."_ Without meaning to, Twilight let her façade drop. Tears started to roll freely down her cheek-plates and drop into the water that she was leaning over.

"It can't be you. It _can't_. Cyclonus, what the _frag_ is going on?!" The Decepticon SIC refused to say anything, however, and merely stood there, maintaining his silence. 'Skywarp' spoke up this time.

_"It really is us, Sis. If you don't believe us, ask us a question only we would know the answer to."_ She stood in silence for a minute, quickly wiping her optics, reluctant to show any form of weakness. When she had thought of an appropriate question, she spoke.

"What was my _exact_ reaction when I saw Soundwave with his mask on for the first time?" Skywarp suddenly burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and Thundercracker chuckled for a moment too.

_"I believe it was something along the lines of 'Oh Primus Soundwave what the frag is that ugly piece of tin on your face?'. You were still a bit… off from the sedative you had just recovered from, and wouldn't stop apologising for what you said after you had woken up properly."_ Twilight's optics widened, but she refused to tear up again.

"It really is you… Only you two and Starscream were there when I said that… Oh Primus… After all these years, I thought I would never see you again…" Cyclonus walked up to her side then, and placed an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Thundercracker. I know you didn't want her to know about this place, but I couldn't keep a secret like that from her any longer." Twilight turned to her bondmate.

"H-How long have you known about this place?" Cyclonus sighed, and quickly showed her the memory of when he had first seen the core and the two Seekers. He also let the scene play out long enough so that she could hear Thundercracker's reason for making Cyclonus keep this a secret from her. After the memory had faded away, a small smile formed on Twilight's face-plates.

Without any warning, she suddenly dived into the planet's core. Cyclonus, of course, had no choice but to follow shortly after. It didn't take long for Ravenstrike to jump in too. To the three Decepticons' surprise, they could breathe fine under the water.

"Are you _insane_, Twilight?" Cyclonus yelled, his voice distorted a little by the water. The femme giggled.

"Maybe a little, but I wanted to see what would happen. You didn't _have_ to follow, you know." The mech rolled his optics. "Besides, nothing happened. I don't feel any different." The second in command had to admit that she was right. Nothing had changed.

"Uhh, Mom? Something _did_ happen." Ravenstrike muttered a little warily, pointing in the direction of his two 'uncles'. Twilight watched in shock as the two Seekers who had just looked like ghosts before fully solidified before her. Once again, she didn't warn anyone as she ran up to Thundercracker, expecting to walk right through his frame. To her surprise, she didn't. She ran into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tightly.

"Oh Primus, it's so great to see you again." She whispered, grinning like a fool. He laughed, hugging her back.

"It's great to see you too, Sister." She was just about to let go of him when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"And where in the Pit is _my_ hug?" Skywarp pouted, feigning sadness. She giggled quietly before wrapping her arms around him. He picked her up and spun her around, laughing wildly. Ravenstrike walked up to his mother then, and she made to pick him up, but Skywarp beat her to it. The mad Seeker then started to spin the little mech around, resuming his insane laughter. Ravenstrike started to laugh as well.

"Stop! Stop! I'm getting dizzy!" The youngling yelled, and Skywarp reluctantly came to a halt.

"It's good to meet ya, little fella!" He laughed, shaking Raven's hand. After he had finally regained his composure, he passed the young mech on to Thundercracker.

"It's nice to meet you, Ravenstrike."

"Nice to meet you too, Uncle Thundercracker."

* * *

><p>As Ravenstrike, Skywarp and Thundercracker were getting acquainted, Twilight let her mind wander. If this place could really let online and offline people meet, then the femme wondered whether she should bring Blizzard and Starlight here, and let them see Silverblade. She knew that they had finally moved on and settled down, but she still believed that they deserved to at least say a proper goodbye.<p>

But there was a nagging feeling in her spark, that selfishness, the fact that she didn't want anyone else to know about this place. But she would have to get over that, she told herself. It wasn't right to keep this place a secret from some of the only people in the universe she could call her friends.

There was another feeling stirring in her spark, and in the pit of her tanks as she realised that she could easily summon her creators, Rapidracer and Sunstar. The thought frightened her, and she dispelled it quickly. Nightslash also came to mind, but she scoffed to herself and batted his image out of her mind.

The memory of Hook showing her the picture of his offline sparkmate and twin sparklings suddenly flashed in her spark, and she felt obliged to bring him here too, to see his lost loved ones, Electra, Flameheart and Flashback. Soundwave was also on her growing list of people to tell.

Thundercracker's creators, Heatwave and Skyla were another pair of Cybertronians that flashed in her mind. They had taken her in, given her a home and helped save her from her own insanity. She vowed to return and thank them one day.

The final three that gained her attention were Accelerator, Firecracker and Techno, the other members of her spy unit from Iacon.

_'I wonder if they-'_

"Yo Boss! What you doin' down here?" Twilight spun around so quickly she almost fell over her own feet.

"_Techno_?" Sure enough, the party-loving motorbike was there, as well as Accelerator, who was quiet as ever, and Firecracker, who ran up to her and captured her in a limb-crushing hug.

"Sup, Boss!" She laughed, jokingly ordering the giant mech to put her down. She quickly checked to make sure Cyclonus wasn't secretly plotting to find out whether it would be possible to offline an already-offline mech, but he seemed more preoccupied with keeping am optic on his son, or, more likely, Skywarp.

Accelerator smiled and rolled his optics.

"It's good to see you again, ma'am." It was Twilight's turn to roll her optics.

"Honestly, Accelerator, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me ma'am?" She huffed, hugging him and Techno quickly.

"Whoa!" The silver and white communications officer exclaimed, staring at Ravenstrike. The other two mechs followed his gaze, and quickly let out similar exclamations. As they walked over to meet Ravenstrike – and, in Techno's case, to annoy the slag out of Cyclonus – Twilight looked on and smiled.

It was in that moment that, surrounded by the ones she loved and with others like them waiting for her closer to home, she finally realised with a sense of finality that every moment of pain, of fear and of grief, had been worth it to get to this moment.

It was in this moment that she finally realised that after years of living a life that wasn't worth living, she had found peace.

It was in this moment that Twilight realised that she was no longer a soulless, sparkless, murderous War Machine.

_**~FIN~**_

* * *

><p><strong>So yeah, a bit of a scatterbrained chapter for an ending, but I actually really enjoyed writing it! And yes, I totally dragged out Thellion for all it was worth ;D. But that's it! It's a wrap! Now prepare for the longest AN you have EVER SEEN. ****_EVER_****.**

**Okay, so I'll start off by saying thank you to everyone who has read/is reading this now, it means a lot to me as this is the first fic that I've ever actually completed. AND I WOULD LIKE TO THANK MY PARENTS only kidding, although I really should thank my dad for being the one to get me into Transformers in the first place (even though he hates season 3 and everything about it because Optimus is his hero and he's an obsessed fanboy) XD. Okay, but seriously, here comes the giant list of thank yous:**

**Thank you to ****_NiceBeans, _****and****_ XMidnightXEclipseX_****, close friends of mine who were my first reviewers and first supporters of this story.**

**Thank you to ****_Misery's Prescription/Breadwing_**** for faving this story and leaving a helpful review which assisted me in working out some of the final details in Twilight's character, as well as Starlight's.**

**Thank you to ****_i love tfg1 tracks, UnForGettable323, benn55555, GeneralHyna, kanbikijanai, Teh Wrath, UltraMagnusFanGirl, TFSTARFIRE, megatronus89, female transformer toa, Amkano, the Tormentor, Lunar Radioactive, Sami-SDG-Force, Dreadful96, Zypherion-DeathNova, ZabuzasGirl, E. , _**_**Coli Chibi, Brightfirewarriorcat**_******and****_ninjafighter2313 _****for faving, following and/or reviewing this story, I love you guys!**

**My largest and most heartfelt thank yous have to go to****_ Corevil, Screamer's girl, TheLoveDov_**** and ****_TheSuperiorVision _****who have stuck with me since the start of this strange little adventure and have reviewed practically every single chapter as well as faving/following and giving me support and advice (and, of course, putting up with my ramblings when I'm bored XD).**

**Thank you so much you guys, this story wouldn't have gotten anywhere without any of you.**

**Well, I'm done! ****_War Machine_**** is finished, but I do have plans for a prequel and a set of one-shots, so if you have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to ask! I won't start working on the prequel yet because plans for other stories are eating my muse alive, so I'll be taking a break from Transformers for the minute (apart from the occasional ****_War Machine_**** related one-shot).**

**Okay, I'm officially done now! Thank you all so ****_so_**** much for putting up with me and for (hopefully) enjoying this story as much as I did! Goodbye! =')**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I used throughout this story other than Twilight, Ravenstrike, Starlight, Blizzard, Silverblade, Rapidracer, Sunstar, Nightslash, Firecracker, Techno, Accelerator, Heatwave, Skyla, Flashback, Electra, Flameheart, Phantom and Meteoracer. Thellion, Drax and the Draxians also belong to me, as well as most of the plotline, apart from a few chapters that were vaguely based on episodes ;D.**

**P.S - If I've forgotten to thank anyone or mention any OCs in that disclaimer (not that any of you probably bother with the disclaimer XD) please tell me and I'll edit it! (And if any of you have faved/followed me as an author then an extra thank you to you!)**

**P.P.S - I don't know what story to work on next, so I'm gonna put up a poll on my page, I'd appreciate it if you guys voted! Okay, I really am done now, goodbye everyone, and thank you once again ='D!**


End file.
